Dragon's Prince
by Aquariuspower
Summary: Hiccup was taken as a baby by a Night Fury and raised among dragons. When he is a teenager, the wild boy and his brother Toothless helps their own against humans, becoming a mysterious legend among Vikings. But both boy and dragon will have to face danger when they are captured by Stoick the Vast, who helds a grudge against dragons. HiccupxAstrid, Brotherly Hiccup and Toothless.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 **Hi everyone! This is my first HTTYD fanfic, I hope you'll enjoy it, I'm pretty excited to start it! The plot was inspired by Princess Mononoke as you might have guessed, but the plot will be different, Mononoke was only an inspiration for it.**

 **Just a precision, in this story Night Furies aren't rare, Toothless is far from being the only one. I always thought it was a shame not to have other Night Furies, so don't be surprised if there are other cute black dragons around!**

 **Edit: the chapters will be edited and reposted, I won't change the story but try to correct some mistakes.**

Tonight, Stoick was fighting a big Monstrous Nightmare, helped by his brother Spitelout. Another attack was taking place, yet there weren't many dragons so the warriors didn't feel too worried. They saw worse, after all Berk was going through those random attacks since generations, they were used to it. Stoick hit the big beast hard on the head, knocking it down. To tell the truth he wasn't unhappy to have dragons to fight, they served as a good outlet since his wife died.

Valka used to be one of the best warriors on this island but even the best warriors could die during a fight, and it happened to her. The outcasts and that damned Alvin attacked them some month ago and though their attack on Berk had failed, they lost some beloved and respected warriors, the chief's wife being one of them. Now Stoick was a widow and a single father, with a two years old kid.

The chief loved his son, but it was hard at times to raise him alone. Plus he had to admit his son was quite clumsy and fragile, which wasn't really good for a Viking, especially a Viking Heir. Still, he was fond of the baby; little Hiccup had learned to say his name and liked to 'introduce' himself to people. There was also this birthmark the child possessed possessed: it looked much like one Stoick had, and they both got it on the same shoulder. Stoick liked to show this mark to his people, in order to demonstrate that this tiny baby already had in him to follow his path and also out of pure fatherly pride.

For now, Hiccup was home alone, and Stoick hoped that this fight wouldn't last too long even if it was good to fight. He and some other men were tying down the Monstrous Nightmare who was unable to fire anymore, when a house almost exploded.

"Night Fury!"

"We didn't need that," grumbled Stoic.

The Night Furies were attacking more and more recently, there was at least one of them during each attacks, the chief hoped that there would be none but sadly his wish wasn't granted.

"Archers and catapult, try to touch that beast, we'll get one of them!"

The chance to catch one was actually thin, they knew it, but they were stubborn Vikings and therefore wouldn't give in. Plus it would be really a glory to be the first Viking tribe to catch one of them. Stoick was giving orders when suddenly a blow made his house almost explode. The chief was almost overwhelmed with fear for his son when he saw that, Hiccup was inside! He ran and heard the infant crying out, relief washed through him: Hiccup was afraid and maybe hurt but alive. He was close to his home and even caught sight of his son in the middle of the fire when a big black form plunged toward the child and seized him in his jaw.

Stoick reacted immediately and tried to throw a bolas at the beast but failed, it was the Night Fury and those beasts were too fast. Stoick yelled loudly:

"Catch that beast, it caught the baby!"

Warriors tried to sight it, but the beast was nowhere to be seen, and soon they had to accept the truth: the monster had retired to devour the baby. When the sun came and the dragons left, Stoick looked at his house and fell on his knees. His son...His little boy was now dead, devoured...He had lost his wife and now it was his child, his flesh and blood, who was dead. He would never feel his tiny fingers wrap around his hand again, he would never hug him, would never see him grow up, he would never look at the birthmark again, he would never even _see_ his son once more...Tears rolled on his cheeks. Spitelout went at his side, not knowing what to say, it was very rare to see his brother cry.

"I am so sorry..."

"You don't know how lucky you are," Stoic declared with sadness and anger.

"I know. You can avenge him at least."

Though his brother's word didn't have any effect at first, though Stoick stayed in that trance like state for hours, he eventually realised that his brother was right: he could at least avenge his son's death, he could hold on that. He would kill them all, dragons and outcasts would pay for taking his family.

Meanwhile, a big Night Fury named Calla was flying back to her island with a human child in her jaw. She wouldn't go to the Red Death today, instead she would fly back to her nest. The baby was now crying but she couldn't stop flying. The poor thing was certainly confused and scared, he went through a lot. When she had sighted him alone in the fire, her motherly instinct had kicked in and she had plunged to save the child, he had no parents around and he was in great danger.

When she reached her nest she was greeted by her cubs who moaned for her. She initially had three babies, sadly one of them died right after his birth, now only two remained: her daughter Thinpaws and her son Toothless. She put the human child in the nest and warned her children that he was no food. Thinpaws and Toothless were slightly scared by the baby's screams. Calla gave to the little one some licks to sooth him. What would she do with it? Bring him back to a human village? Would they take care of him well? The baby was still scared but he wasn't crying as loud as earlier. Toothless shyly approached, the baby noticed the dragon cub and eyed him with curiosity and a twinge of fear.

Toothless advanced toward him and sniffed his face, while Hiccup raised his hand tentatively to stroke the baby dragon. Though Toothless was at first surprised by this contact, he just sniffed the hand caressing him and gave it a slight lick, making Hiccup laugh out. Thinpaws, who was watching this, approached too and sniffed the newcomer before licking him too but on the face, making him laugh out again. The cubs liked that sound and were soon licking Hiccup just to hear him burst into laughter. Calla watched them tenderly: her cubs obviously liked the baby. Maybe she could keep him, after all she only had two cub, and she could take care of this one, even if he was human. She was happy to have three children again.

She extended her wing over the three, shielding them. The dragon cubs snuggled together against her chest and the baby joined them soon, enjoying the comfort it was providing. Then, Hiccup pointed a finger at himself and uttered:

"Hiccup!"

The cubs looked at him with a puzzled look, he did it again and Calla understood. She gave him a nudge with her snout:

" _Your name is Hiccup? That's fine with me."_

 **Don't hesitate to tell me what you think! I'll try to update soon!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

It seemed some things would never change. The population of Berk was under attack, _again_. Dragons were burning buildings and stealing food as usual, they had some peaceful nights recently but it didn't last long, as usual.

Dragons and Vikings fighting seemed like something endless to some people who thought they would never got rid of those monsters, and that there would never be any victory against them. Of course, others thought differently: Stoick their chief would always fight with ferocity. He was among the vikings who couldn't give up their hopes of victory. To say he was particularly hateful toward dragons was an understatement. He wished more than anything to find their nest and kill every single dragon here, the Night Furies in particular, oh how he hated those!

His pain was still here after that fateful night during which one of those blasted beasts took his son and devoured him. Eleven years hadn't been enough to sooth him. He would have given anything to capture the one who devoured his son and make it pay in a painfully hard way. Yet he knew that his chances to ever find this particular dragon were awefully thin, almost inexistant, and it was eating him at times when he thought about it.

A Nadder was attacking the livestock, Stoick immediately ran toward it as well as Spitelout and they both attacked. The beast threw spikes at them but the chief dodged as if nothing was more natural. He jumped at the beast with a roar, his hammer ready to smash skulls. The dragon barely avoided the first blow, but then Stoick's next swift move with the hammer hit the beast's neck so hard that the dragon lost balance. It allowed his brother to throw bolas at its paws. The beast struggled while the brothers tied its paws and muzzled its jaw, they were about to imprison it for their arena when they suddenly heard someone yell:

"The dragons' prince!"

Stoick felt an adrenaline rush and looked in the direction of the yell. The 'dragons' prince' was a mysterious figure, which appeared out of the blue some months ago and who would fight with the dragons. He had the body of thin boy, but no one had ever seen his face because he would always wear a black mask during the raids. That little demon would never steal or burn anything, instead he would always assists dragons who were hurt or at the verge to be captured, fighting with a small but effective sword. To tell the truth, the 'prince' wasn't really big, he was pretty much a little runt, and any boy of such a stature would have been ignored and teased by other Vikings. However, the 'prince' was a good sword-fighter: ferocious, swift, tricky and somehow threatening in the way he would savagely growl at his enemies and interact with dragons as if he was one as well. And more impressive of all: he would usually ride on a Night Fury.

Needless to say, a mysterious figure like this raised many rumours, and a lot of stories were told about him. Some would said he was some orphan taken and raised by dragons, some said he was a cursed hybrid with a human body and a dragon's head, some said he was a demon sent by Loki, some said he was a sorcerer who could control dragons. Different stories were told but one nickname remained: the dragons' prince.

Stoick didn't know what the truth was, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he wanted to get his hand on that creature: human or monster, if he could talk, he would reveal them where the dragon's nest was. The confusion and chaos around didn't allow him to see where the 'prince' was, until the little savage suddenly jumped before them, obviously ready to fight.

Though he wasn't about to get intimidated by such a little thing, Stoick thought he was quite creepy with his mask, he was also wearing a black fur which covered all his back, worn out tunic and pants, and he was barefoot. It gave him a wild and repulsive look.

"Don't kill him, I want him alive!" Yelled Stoick

His brother just gave a slight nod: he didn't need to be told. They threw bolas at him but the thing dodged and jumped on Spitelout who countered his attack with his own sword. Stoick came at his brother's side, not attacking with his hammer this time but with his bare fists. The creature backed away before he could hit and sliced the chief's arm with his weapon. The wound wasn't really big, yet it reminded Stoick that even a small guy could beat a bigger one if the sword was well aimed.

The little devil was still backing away, both brothers threw themselves at him, but he plunged on the side right before they could caught him and sprinted toward the Nadder which had been forgotten by the two warriors. The beast had loosened its bonds while they were fighting and when the dragon's prince reached it, he sliced the last ropes away, allowing the Nader to get free. Then the prince jumped on the dragon's back to fly away with it.

It happened very quickly and Stoick and Spitelout didn't have enough time to catch both of them back. The chief yelled in rage as he realised that he had lost an occasion to catch the runt again.

"Loki's son!" Yelled Spitelout to the sky

"He did it on purpose," growled Stoick, "he wasn't fighting us, but driving our attention away to free that dragon."

"I don't know what he truly is, but the little demon is tricky!"

"Continue to fight, we'll get him!"

Spitelout did as he was told, and returned to the battle. The chief sighted a monstrous nightmare flying toward a group of teens who were extinguishing fires, among them was Snotlout, his nephew. Stoick ran as fast as he could, he wouldn't let another of those monsters kill another child! He threw himself at the thing which landed near Fishlegs. When he saw the dragon, the boy ran away, screaming in fear. The four others froze as they saw what just happened. The chief threw his hammer against the beast's head hard.

"Get away," he ordered to the other youths.

Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnutt and Tuffnutt obeyed the chief and went back to work, while Stoick was still fighting. Snotlout and Tuffnutt boasted about not even being scared, but it had been obvious they were, and who could have blamed them? The Monstrous Nightmare was one of the most feared dragons ever. Astrid didn't even listen to them and ran to Fishlegs who was heading toward his home.

"Stop, Fishlegs, we need you out there, you can't just leave us."

"But Astrid, that dragon…"

"I know, but we have to help, the only way to survive is to fight! Come on, go back to work."

The boy obeyed Astrid's command even if he was scared. He knew she was right, he couldn't let them down, he would be the shame of the family otherwise. Praying that he wouldn't be attacked again, he followed her toward the well. He looked at Astrid while they were filling their buckets.

"I heard the dragon's prince is here too."

"Yeah, along with a night fury, as usual. I think it's gonna be a long night."

"They say that under his mask he has the face of a dragon!"

"We will see that when he'll got captured, for now focus!"

Fishlegs couldn't help but feel fascinated by this dragons' prince, he loved to hear stories about him. He had seen him from afar at times, and he had always felt impressed, in spite of the Prince's small size. He felt like he was the only one in the group to have such a fascination, but he was wrong.

Astrid would have never admitted it out loud, but she was very intrigued. She was curious about that mysterious figure and really wished to know what was under this mask. Some people said he wasn't human, and she was sure they were right, it was probably some strange monster created by malevolent gods. Sometimes, she liked to imagine him, maybe with a dragon's head and scales over his legs and arms. Sometimes, she just imagined a human face ornated with some dragon's feature, like reptilian tongue and eyes.

She pretended that her interest was purely practical, because if they eventually captured him, they would finally know where the dragon's nest was. Yet in reality, she was drawn to the mystery the creature represented, she wished to know more, to see that strange monster. Just like Fishlegs and the other teens, she had seen him only from afar, fighting against the adults, or riding dragons as if it was the most natural thing to do! It was whenever she would see him like this that she was convinced he was some kind of unholy monster. It made no sense for a human to be among dragons after all. So what was this creature?

Even with those thoughts in her head, she continued to focus on her work, she couldn't slack off. She was throwing some waters and was about to run to the well along with the others when she saw a Nadder landing on the ground painfully after being hit by a catapulted rock. It wouldn't have drawn much of her attention, if she hadn't seen _him_ falling from the beast's back as well. It made her stop in her track and she gaped.

The 'prince' had landed on the ground painfully, but thankfully for him his fall hadn't been deadly. The Nadder was flying away again, leaving him on the ground. Astrid was stupefied but she reacted swiftly. She let go of her bucket and threw herself to him with her axe. She didn't plan to wound him mortally, she knew he had to be taken alive but she had to disarm him first. The devil went back on his feet and reacted just in time to counter her attack with his sword. Odin, she could catch him!

"Astrid!"

She heard her father's voice but focused on her fight, the runt wasn't bad at all and if she got distracted he would kill her. He threw his sword at her, she dodged and tried to disarm him again. He countered almost gracefully and his next blow almost took her off balance, but she managed to stay on her feet and retaliated, putting all her strength into her next attack. He countered again but this time he had to back away, and she forced him to back away again, hoping he would lose balance.

The prince probably got what her strategy was, because he stopped backing away and swiftly dodged a blow and jumped aside to kick her in the ribs. The girl yelled in pain and when he was about to attack her, an arrow was shot. It only grazed the creature's arm but it made him loose his focus and his grip on his weapon loosened. Astrid decided not to miss this opportunity. With a powerful swing of her axe she hit his sword so hard that it flew out of his hands. Feeling victory was close, she went to hit his head with the handle of her axe. He rolled down and reached for his blade, avoiding Astrid's next blow and got on his feet quickly. He sent his sword at her and she blocked. They were putting the same strength in it, blocking each other in the process.

That's when their eyes met, and for a second they both froze.

She felt some kind of electricity as she saw those green and _human_ eyes piercing through the mask. He also seemed struck when he saw _her_ eyes and for a very slight moment, they looked at each other. Both of them loosened their grips on their weapons.

That didn't last long; the prince heard an agonizing scream and his head jerked at it. He sent his foot violently in Astrid's knee, taking her off balance. The girl tripped on a small rock and landed on the ground. It was enough for him to run away.

She got back on her feet, only to see the swift boy jumping on another Nadder's back after avoiding an attack from a villager. The beast flew away with him. He ran…He could have killed her when she was on the ground, but he ran instead. Astrid was looking at the sky in a trance-like state, feeling strangely shaken. Something was wrong...She couldn't explain it, but she had the feeling she just discovered something important, yet she couldn't really grasp what it was. Her father, who had been stopped from helping her by another dragon, ran to her in order to check if she was okay.

"Astrid, did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't. I...I saw his eyes..."

Her father didn't know why she told him that, it seemed strangely important to her. He told her to go back to work and be very prudent; she did so, slapping herself mentally for forgetting her job. She took her bucket back, not even answering the questions from the other teens. She tried to keep focused but her legs were trembling, and her guts were tightening each time she thought of those eyes again. She just couldn't shake it off.

 **O o O**

Meanwhile, the dragons' prince was still on the Nader's back and he was worried. He knew that this scream he had heard earlier belonged to his brother Toothless. He had been the only night fury tonight, and anyway he would have recognized his yells among any others of his kind. The Nadder, Stormfly, was scanning the sky along with him, she wouldn't refuse him her help, she knew the dragon boy since long and she liked him.They soon sighted the Night Fury who was flying with difficulty. They followed him, Toothlesscouldn't take it for long and landed in the forest. Hiccup and the Nadder landed next to him and the boy rushed toward his brother.

" _Toothless, are you okay?_ "

" _I'm bleeding, they got me!_ "

Hiccup saw a big arrow planted on his brother's side, and another in his wing. He took those off, ignoring Toothless's yells of pain and looked at the wounds. The one in his wing wasn't that deep, but the one in his side was more serious.

" _I'll take care of that_ ," proposed the Nader.

She gently breathed some fire on his wounds and though it hurt, it at least stopped the bleeding. Hiccup looked at his brother's wing.

" _You won't be able to fly for some days. I'll stay here and take care of you._ "

" _Do you need me to stay?_ "

" _It_ _should be okay Stormfly, bring some food for the queen, let's hope she won't devour any of us."_

Stormfly flew away hoping the two would indeed be fine. Hiccup felt something wet against his arm, and saw his brother licked the cut inflicted upon him during the fight.

" _They got you too._ "

" _I'll be fine, it's not as bad as you. What happened?_ "

" _I was trying to find you, but I wasn't careful enough._ "

Hiccup nudged him slightly, showing some appreciation. He hated whenever his brother endangered himself, if their mother and sister had been there, things would have been different. The dragon-boy slept at his brother's side, his sword next to him, just in case. Both Hiccup and Toothless knew they would have to be cautious, they were still on the island of Berk and if the humans sighted them they would be dead.

 **It you wonder how is it that Hiccup has clothes, a mask and a sword while living with dragons, I'll answer those questions in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Thanks to everyone for the review, I hope you'll like this chapter! I must say I love writing wild Hiccup, the wild child thing is just so fitful for this character, it's really great.**

The next morning, a big group of Vikings were getting ready to hunt down the Night Fury. Spitelout and Mildew had successfully shot some arrows at it, now they suspected the blasted thing to be somewhere in the forest, wounded and weakened. If the gods were good the dragons' prince would be there too. While the expedition was being prepared, Stoick was trying to make a tough decision. He was talking with Gobber and Gothi and they were both trying to convince him not to kill the Night Fury.

"You know it's the best thing to do, Stoick. We would need one in the training arena," Gobber stated.

"You know what those creatures did!"

"If we want to avoid another tragedy like this, we need to train against those dragons, we don't have enough experience and not a bit of knowledge about them," Gothi whispered.

"What kind of chief am I, if I can't even avenge my son?"

"The kind who puts the needs of his tribe first."

Gobber's words hit right and Stoick couldn't find anything to answer. The voice of reason was agreeing with his friend, but not his feelings. Gothi patted his arm.

"You'll avenge your son in due time, for now you must learn the value of patience."

He smiled to her, knowing she was telling the truth. Gothi had been very helpful when he lost Valka and then Hiccup. She tried at a time to convince him to find another wife, but she eventually accepted that he couldn't do it. He had some lovers in the past few years, but none ever were what he hoped for. He gathered himself and comforted himself at the thought that he would be at least able to make the Night Fury suffer in the arena.

"Alright."

While they were talking, Astrid was preparing herself. Both her father and Stoic had seen how she had fought against the dragon's prince, that's why he chief had allowed her to be part of the hunt. He considered that it was Astrid's right to have a chance for another round with the little devil. She was feeling tired, the precedent night had been tough. They had captured a Nadder and killed a Zippelback but otherwise the dragons had won this round. Yet she was motivated, they finally had a chance to catch a Night Fury or the Dragon's prince and she didn't want to miss that! She also wanted a chance to see the 'prince' again; she was sure after last night that he was human. His eyes weren't the ones of a dragon, she wanted to see his face and know why a human would fight along with dragons. It made no sense at all.

Ruffnutt came at her side, Astrid knew she and her brother had been denied the right to come, so she expected her to be jealous. The two girls were friends, but they had a tendency to compete at times, nothing too big, just sane Viking competition.

"Hey. So, you're leaving?"

"Yeah. Not too jealous?"

"Ah, shut up! Anyway, you still didn't tell us what really happened. You fought that weird prince thing?"

"Nothing much happened. He fell near me, you guys were already ahead. I tried to fight him, not to kill him but to knock him out. And…"

She stopped there, not sure of what she was going to say.

"What?"

"I saw his eyes, Ruff…And it was just…Human eyes, normal eyes you see…And it was strange."

"Wait, so there were no lizard eyes or red flame things in it?"

Though Ruffnutt wasn't a wit, she was maybe the only one who seemed to understand why Astrid was so focused on this. She had told her parents about it, but they didn't really care much about that. So she was glad Ruff seemed to understand.

"No, just green eyes. Like any green eyes, it was strange, to look at him in the eyes like this."

"Yeah, you wouldn't look at a dragon in the eyes before killing it."

But the creature was no dragon, and Astrid was sure of that. She was about to say something when Stoick advanced toward them to give them instructions.

"Everyone, even if I wish to kill it as badly as you do, this dragon has to be brought back alive in our training arena. We'll use it to train ourselves. If you see the dragons' prince, you have to capture him safe and sane as well. If you see any other dragons however, have no mercy!"

He then split them into groups and told them which parts of the forest they would scout. Everyone had been given nets and bolas which would be necessary to capture their targets alive, she waved to Ruff before leaving. They began their expedition through the forest, Astrid's parents always near her, to her great displeasure. She loved her parents but right now they were being overprotective toward her, and she didn't like it.

"Mom, dad, I can handle myself here."

"This forest is full of danger Astrid," replied her mother in a tone that wouldn't accept any protest.

She sighed heavily. They were trying not to be too loud; they had to take their prey by surprise.

 **O o O**

Meanwhile Hiccup was still in the forest, searching for some plants to take care of Toothless's wound. They had to leave this island as soon as possible, he knew that Vikings would eventually find them otherwise. He was glad he had knowledge of medicinal plants, and that was thanks to the only human friend he ever got.

When he was still very young, his mother had taken them for a hunt on an island, and while they were in the forest he had got away from the rest of his family. That's how he met an elderly woman who was also hunting. When she had seen the boy, she thought he was lost or orphaned, so she tried to take him in her house, but his mother had stopped her.

The old woman, Millie, lived alone in the forest, her island counted only a few people and she would see them only when necessary. Though Calla could have killed her for trying to take her son, she let her live and even regularly visited her with Hiccup and her cubs. She was always watching carefully, but Calla allowed Millie to teach her son how to talk, how to make himself coarse clothes, and how to use a sword. The first times the mother dragon had brought her son to Millie, the woman had tried to fight against her, but Calla would stop her every time without killing her. She eventually understood what the Night Fury wanted.

The mother dragon was aware that her son needed some contact with his own specie, he would grow up after all, and a time would come when Hiccup would certainly want his own family, a mate. That mate would have to be human, because Hiccup was physically human. Plus Hiccup had no claws, no fangs, no scales to resist the cold and he was small compared to dragons. Soon after adopting him, Calla realized it would be hard to raise him without human means. If that woman could provide him ways to survive and fight, it would be good.

That's how for years, Millie was visited by the strange dragon child and his family, she taught him to talk, to fight with a sword and provided him one, to make other small weapons, and to turn fur and skin into clothes. She also taught him about herbal medicine, taught what kind of plants, berries and mushrooms he could eat and how to make fire without a dragon. Toothless and Thinpaws would sometimes play with Hiccup and Millie under Calla's guard. With time, the dragon family and the old hermit developed a strong friendship. That was until Millie died two years ago. Now Hiccup felt really thankful to her for teaching him so much, and right now, he was especially gkad to know how to heal burns and deep wounds.

To tell the truth, Hiccup wasn't feeling hatred toward humans, he was aware for a fact that he was supposed to be one. He knew they couldn't be blamed for defending their villages whenever they would do raids. He was pretty sure humans knew about the Red Death, but just weren't willing to give food away for her. And in the end, why should they have? The Red Death was dragons' concern, not theirs. Some humans were just living in their territory and nothing else, Hiccup couldn't blame them, it was natural to defend your territory. Millie didn't know about the Red Death, but maybe it was because she lived away from everyone. However, he had seen in the past that some humans were cruel, and vicious. Sometimes they would just go and attack dragons who did nothing to them, and you could never really tell which humans were friends and who weren't. So he was wary of them.

There was also their way of living, it seemed so complicated! Even Millie who was close to animals had always done things which baffled him, so a human village! He vaguely heard from her of things like money or politic, but he didn't really understand any of it, it seemed vicious and overly complex. But it seemed humans liked to complicate their own lives. It scared him sometimes.

Millie was the only human he ever got close to. She and her mother agreed he would want a mate and a family one day, but he would rather not think about it, for now living with his brother contented him. He and Toothless had left their mother some month ago, their sister Thinpaws decided to live on her own, though she would often visit her mother and brothers. They enjoyed their independence, but in times like this he wished the whole family was around to help.

He was cutting some herbs when he heard voices from afar; Hiccup immediately hid among bushes and took a sneak peek. He saw several Vikings walking in the forest; they had weapons, nets and bolas, everything they usually used to fight and capture. A shiver passed through him:

' _They saw Toothless flying in the forest...We better hide well!'_

Among them he saw the big man with a red beard. He snarled silently: he didn't like this one, he could feel the man wasn't only defending his village, he had a vicious hatred against them. He also saw the girl he had fought against last night and his anger flattened when he looked at her, just curiosity. When their eyes had met last night, he had seen no hatred or will to kill, just determination. She was maybe one of the humans who just wanted to live in peace.

He remained hidden in the bushes and heard the men talk about him and Toothless: just as he suspected they were here to capture them. He was careful not to make any noise, they were close, very close to his spot, it was a good thing that the bushes were so dense. He waited for them to be far away to get out of his spot. He had worked on his stealth over the years, because he was truly clumsy as a cub, and though he was now better he wouldn't try his luck by moving too much.

When they were far enough, he went out of his spot. For a slight moment, he wished to follow them, more exactly to follow the girl. It seemed that they were the same age, and he wasn't used to meet humans of his age. He would usually fight grown people, but he would rarely cross children and teenager. He had seen some before, but the girl was the first one he got so close to and it felt strange, he wasn't sure why.

He put on his mask, just in case he was sighted by humans. This was something he made with animal skin and scales, using what Millie taught him to create it. He was quite proud of it, it could only not protect his face but it would also hide it from humans. Millie told him one day that if he didn't want Vikings to be too curious about him, he couldn't show himself too much. Yet he had to join the raids and help dragons, so he made that mask because he didn't want humans to know who he was. He wanted to be seen as an animal.

He sneaked to the spot he and his brother choose. On the way, he chased a rabbit and killed it, it wouldn't be enough meat for Toothless but it was better than nothing. He would also get some fishes later, but first they would have to leave their spot because it was at the border of a pond. It provided water and fishes but if humans searched for them, they would need coverage. He had been sure the humans didn't saw Toothless falling in the woods nearby, that's why they chose a resourceful place instead of a good hiding place.

' _Obviously I was wrong, how could I be so dense?'_

He sighed and reached the pond without being seen. Toothless was lying in the grass. Hiccup went to him and took off his mask, not caring anymore about being seen, he had nothing to hide around Toothless. He stroked his brother's snout and checked on his wounds. It was a little better but it would need more time to heal. Hiccup felt sadness spread through him: he hated to see his brother like that.

" _You'll be okay."_

" _Of course I will, I'm not some Terrible Terror."_

" _We need to move, humans are looking for us."_

" _Damn them! I don't feel like moving."_

" _I thought you weren't someTerrible Terror,"_ Hiccup teased while feeding him with the dead rabbit.

The dragon just gave him a look of annoyance and chewed the little beast while Hiccup was caressing him. He would prepare the herbs once Toothless and he would have found a better spot to hide.

" _Come, we shouldn't be too…"_

He froze as a smell brought by the wind reached his nose. Toothless had the same reaction. He smelled around and realized that what he feared came true. It was a human smell…

 **As you guessed, things are really heating up for them. As for the friendship between Ruff and Astrid, I know it's not cannon, but I always thought it was sad those two weren't closer.**

 **Don't hesitate to tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Thanks to all those who posted reviews, it's always greatly appreciated! Here is our next chapter, I hope you'll like it!**

 **Edit: I added some little sentences to show that Astrid is really curious about Hiccup, there is some Hiccstrid in this story, but not immediately. Astrid is first curious and fascinated by this boy who is very strange, but it's not love, not until they really get to know each other.**

As the hunt progressed, Astrid managed to keep some distances from her parents. She was moving silently while searching: where would a wounded beast go? She saw a small stream and realised that maybe the beast tried to stay around water to drink and fish.

The girl progressed slowly and silently through the bushes. She was so excited: if she was the one to find the Night Fury it would be a glory for her and her family! And she would see the dragon's prince again, she would see his face this time! Astrid knew this hunt might be useless, maybe they had already left, but it was worth a shot. She wished Ruffnutt and Fishlegs were here with her, those two were her closest friends, and she wished she could share this moment with them right now (even if imagining Ruffnutt jealous back in the village always felt a little good).

The stream led her to a little pond surrounded by rocks and trees. She heard a strange and animalistic sound, her guts twisted and she immediately took shelter behind a big rock. Astrid took a sneak peek toward the sound's location. Blood rushed faster in her veins as she saw a big black creature near the water: the Night Fury!

It was the very first time she saw one like this, usually, a vague black form was all Vikings could see, but here she could see it in broad light. It wasn't as big as she thought, but it was still an imposing creature, all black and somehow beautiful...It felt strange for Astrid to find a dragon beautiful. It was lying on the ground, resting obviously, it was probably hurt. She couldn't capture the beast alone, if she was lucky it wouldn't move from here and it would give her time to go and warn others…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a masked figure approaching the dragon: the prince! He was still wearing his mask. Her eyes widened slightly as he started to take it off and her heart missed a beat. She was about to see him! Would he have scales? A deformed reptilian face? Her curiosity was boiling, it took all her will to stay in place.

She saw the face of a boy with chestnut hair and fair skin. His face was as skinny as the rest of his body, but he had no scales, and average features. He was perfectly normal...yet it was so strange, such an average face was out of place... _I was right though, he is human_. It answered one question but raised many others. However she could now understand why he was wearing this mask: without it, he wasn't scary at all. In fact when he checked the dragon's wounds, he only looked worried and sad.

Astrid knew she had to do something, attack them or fetch some people to help, but all she could do was stay here and look at the boy petting the dragon while feeding him with some dead rabbit. It seemed like they were both growling softly. The scene was so strange, the dragon didn't look dangerous and the boy seemed so innocent and caring. She was a tough girl, a fighter, and she could be hard on people but she wasn't cruel or unable of compassion. And for the very first time in her life she was beginning to feel compassion for a dragon...

It was disturbing her, she wasn't supposed to feel like this. Yet the more she looked at them, and the more she wished she hadn't came here and found them. They just looked like two peaceful creatures caring for each other. For the first time, she truly questioned what her tribe was doing. This boy was probably just her age and he was being chased by mighty warriors…But what he did, attacking her village…Frustration grew in her for not knowing, why was a human with dragons? It wasn't supposed to be.

She was thinking about this when suddenly, both boy and dragon froze. She wondered what was wrong and realised they were both sniffing the air. Oh Thor helps her, did they caught her smell? What would they do to her? She had to get away from here, she had to…

"Now!"

Stoick's voice was like thunder in the middle of the tranquil forest and Astrid shuddered as if she was an animal too. At this command, nests and bolas were immediately thrown over the Night Fury and the boy.

A yell of surprise and a roar came from the two wild creatures, Astrid gasped as she saw several people, Stoick and her parents among them, jumping on the pair. The boy dodged the bolas and got out of the net he had been caught in very quickly, but the dragon couldn't react as well, because of his wounds. The boy went to his friend to help him, but the warriors were on them in an instant.

Most of them were on the dragon, who put a hell of fight, whipping his tail at them, spitting fire while trying to free its paws. Astrid saw her mother and another man on the boy, they were fighting against him, so she jumped out of her spot, and went to them. Before she was at their level, her mom had disarmed the little wilding, and the man punched him hard in the face before kicking him the ribs, making the boy yell and fell. Another net was thrown over him when he collapsed on the ground. Astrid took hold of the man's arm: she couldn't stop her tribe from capturing him but at least she could spare him some suffering.

"Take care of the Night Fury, I'll tie him down," she said at the man.

The man nodded, left and helped the others with the Night Fury, leaving Astrid and her mother to tie the savage down. He was yelling and screaming incoherent sounds while they were on him, trying to maintain him down. He was kicking and struggling madly.

"Astrid, tie his hands while I hold him."

She did as her mother told her, trying to push away the feeling she was doing something awful. When she was finally done his hands were tightly bound, they freed him from the net and put him back on his feet. He immediately tried to run to his dragon, who had his paws chained and was struggling while being muzzled. Astrid stopped him:

"Stop that, it's useless."

The boy threw her a furious and desperate look; she noticed his lower lip was bleeding. Once both boy and dragon were securely restrained, Stoick smiled in vengeful satisfaction while looking at the dragon:

"He won't be able to move, now we finally caught one of those demons. It had been so long since I expect this!"

He then turned to the bound boy who was looking at him with hatred. Stoick's eyes narrowed, it was almost humiliating to see that the dragons' prince who had been so difficult to handle and capture was just… _This._ He grabbed the boy's chin roughly to make him look up at him.

"So you're nothing more than a little runt, no hybrid creature. A scrawny little devil…"

The boy growled and bit his hand hard enough to draw blood, making Stoick gasp. He back handed the boy hard, and Astrid couldn't help but gasp and leaned toward the prisoner almost instinctively. Stoick didn't pay attention to that and turned to the rest of the group.

"Let's go back to the village!"

The travel back to the village went without incident, the Night Fury was still trying to struggle from time to time but otherwise they got no problem, Astrid was careful to keep a firm grip on the feral boy without hurting him. The way he looked at the dragon was heart-breaking, and Astrid figured out he was probably worried because of its wounds.

"They won't let your friend die…Who are you? What are you doing with dragons?"

Her questions went unanswered, but when he looked at her, he seemed more confused than angry. From anyone else, she would have insisted to get an answer, but here she didn't, she felt like it would be useless. She knew she couldn't be too nice toward him, but honor commanded to behave fairly toward prisoners, taking advantage of someone's captivity to hurt them was low, cruel and coward-like.

When they reached Berk, people ran toward them. Instinctively, Astrid drew Hiccup close to her protectively while the boy tensed at the sight of so many enemies and she heard him do a guttural growl. People acclaimed their victory, pushing each others to get a better sight of both boy and dragon. The blond girl saw Fishlegs who was looking at both the prince and the Night Fury with his mouth agape. Stoick raised a hand:

"As you can see, today is a big day! We finally caught one of the deadliest dragon ever, and their so called prince!"

Stoic gestured toward Hiccup who snarled while people cursed at him, yelling things such as 'Loki's son!', 'Go rot in a cell!' Astrid hoped this would be done soon when a stone was suddenly thrown at Hiccup and hit him hard on the head. A small yelp emanated from the boy and then he collapsed, unconscious. Astrid caught him before he could hit the ground, and held his back against her chest, at this moment, she didn't see an enemy but another kid in distress. She saw blood running down from his temple. How low it was to throw stones at someone who was restrained!

"WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!"

The way the girl just screamed in rage surprised people and it was maybe what prevented other attacks. Stoick raised his voice:

"Don't hurt that boy! He is the key to the dragons' nest! Lock the Night Fury in the training arena while I put that kid in a cell. Have someone take care of this wound."

"I will," proposed Astrid immediately.

Stoick's eyes narrowed slightly. He seized the unconscious boy by the arm and hoisted him on his shoulders to lead him the prison. Astrid, her parents and some other people followed him, while others were following the night fury to the training area. Hiccup was thrown in a cell and Stoick turned to Astrid:

"Why do you care so much about him?"

Astrid was surprised by the question but kept her countenance:

"I am a warrior, but I'm no torturer."

The chief's eyes softened slightly at this answer. To tell the truth, now that he had seen the 'dragons' prince' was no more but a boy (even if he couldn't really be called human), he was feeling a twinge of remorse for capturing and leaving someone so young in such a place. Yet, did he have the choice? The boy had attacked people, fought with dragons, was dangerous with a sword. He was definitely their enemy. But the girl was right, it was one thing to do their duty, and another to hurt the feral boy more than necessary. Dishonor would be brought on their tribe if they behaved cruelly toward someone smaller and now defenseless.

"I don't intend to torture that boy either but don't take too much pity on him. He is an enemy, remember that. Now take care of him if that's your wish."

The chief left, giving instructions to always watch the prisoner's cell and to be careful not to let the demon hurt Astrid. The young warrior felt her father's hand on her shoulder, he smiled proudly at her.

"Be home soon, okay?"

"Yes."

Her parents left and she was thankful for that proof of trust. She was given a bowl of water with a cloth to clean his wound and entered the cell. She dampened the cloth, and began to clean the wound gently, it was bleeding quite heavily. Astrid was used to that kind of task; sometimes she would help her parents with their wounds. She studied the boy a little: he had a big bruise on the cheek because of the attack along with his the cut on his lip.

She cleaned his lip, it was done quickly. He seemed to have no other wounds, he would be fine. She saw that the guards weren't looking at her anymore and she gave in to her curiosity. She looked at his face a little more; she looked at his hands to see no claws, just normal, thin and scratched hands. A Viking's old way consisted of abandoning babies who were too weak, because they would never be anything but a weight for the tribe. Berk wasn't really doing that anymore, but other tribes did, and maybe that boy came from one of those tribes, maybe he had been abandoned as a baby, he was very scrawny after all…But it didn't explain how he found himself among dragons. Did a dragon…Adopt him? All her life she had been told that dragons were doing nothing but kill humans, why would they suddenly adopt a baby?

Astrid heard him grunt slightly and let go of his hands. The guards approached the cell again to be sure they could react in time if the demon decided to attack the girl. His eyes opened slightly, and when he realized that a human was with him, he backed away, throwing a death glare at Astrid.

"Calm down, I am just cleaning your wounds."

He narrowed his eyes, it seemed like he didn't believe her. She showed him the wash cloth stained with blood; the boy put his hand on his head and felt the spot which was bleeding less now.

The two looked at each other, Hiccup was feeling puzzled, this girl was the one who tied his hands back in the forest. Why was she being gentle with him now? Why was she cleaning his wounds? He looked around and felt his heart clench with angst as he realized he didn't know where he was. What kind of place was this? Where was Toothless? He felt suddenly very worried when he thought about his brother who could be dead right now. However it seemed not really logical: if they wanted Toothless dead, they would have killed him back there in the forest. Maybe they had put him in this horrid training arena? He was taken out of his thoughts when Astrid spoke again:

"You're better? You just have to talk, tell us what we want."

Hiccup didn't answer. He could understand what she was saying, but he decided he wouldn't say anything, there was no way he would help them. The guards told Astrid to leave, so she just sighed and left as she was told. Hiccup looked at her, she seemed nice right now, but he had to be careful. He wasn't sure about her. She had fought him twice but when he was captured, she had spoken gently to him and she took care of his wounds. Humans…They were complicated.

When the door was closed behind her, Hiccup alternated between walking and crawling on his four all over his cell, sniffing and looking around for an exit, but he understood pretty soon that there was way out, except for this cage-like door, but it was guarded and he knew the men at the door wouldn't let him out. As long as the girl had been here, he had focused on her, but now, all he could see was this empty cell and he was starting to feel smothered and afraid. He knew he was trapped, cornered into a human's lair. The idea of being cornered was really scaring him, he hated that. It had already been cornered by predators in the past and each time he had almost died.

He needed to go out, now! He began to erratically scratch the wall and the floor while letting out little grunts and whims, baffling the guards in the process. He needed to leave this place, he needed to go out, free Toothless and fly away! He went to the only small window in the room, but there were iron bars, he couldn't fit between those! Seeing the birds outside fly freely was almost like a provocation to him, they were taunting him to no end! He scratched almost madly, making the tips of his fingers slightly bleed, he was not even really hoping for a way out anymore, just panicking and feeling the need to scratch...

"Will you stop that, devil?"

He turned to the guard with anger and rushed toward the bars, and hit those with all his strength, while giving them a furious, loud and low-pitched growl like a lynx's one. It made the two men back away and cringes, then he hissed, barring his teeth, before backing away from the bars. Dragons could be scary, but lynxes always impressed Hiccup with the range of scary sounds they could make and sometimes he imitated them too.

Hiccup was satisfied when two men went silent, and maybe letting out his anger on them helped calming him down. Yet, he had to admit there was no way out. He roamed around a little more, just to check, but he didn't scratch anymore, he would just hurt himself. He was starting to understand where he was. He knew what a 'training arena" was, Hiccup had went in those on several islands to free dragons. He seemed he was in a place like this, but it wasn't the arena itself otherwise he would have smelled dragons' presence.

He sat down on the floor and thought. He couldn't speak human language perfectly, but he had a good level. Since Millie died two years ago, Hiccup didn't get the occasion to speak like a human anymore. That's also why he didn't want to talk with those humans: he wasn't sure he would do it well. He didn't even know what he was supposed to say, he had only spoke with Millie his entire life, being suddenly in the middle of all those people and being expected to talk...

He shivered, sighed heavily and brought his knees to his chest, and let his head rest on his kneecaps. He could hear the guards talking about him, but he didn't listen. He only thought about his brother, maybe prisoner, maybe dead.

 **Now, their captivity starts! I thought it could be more interesting to have Hiccup's animalistic behaviour a little more various, not making him just influenced by dragons but also other animals that he saw in the wild, even if he is still mainly having a dragon's behaviour. Review, please!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Here is the new chapter! I know it took a little longer than the others, but one scene in particular gave me difficulties. Plus my PC was off for two days. I hope you'll enjoy it!**

Hiccup watched the sun getting down from his cell, the sky was colouring itself in different shades of oranges and pink. The boy always liked sunset, and right now it was the only beautiful thing to look at. The guards weren't speaking to him, they were just whispering to each other, talking about him, about how savage he looked. Hiccup feigned not to hear anything, he preferred to listen to the birds and look outside, it was much nicer, even if seeing them fly freely was taunting him a little. He hoped that maybe there would be a dragon attack this evening, he could call them and maybe they would help. Stormfly would come maybe, or his sister and mother. Then he would free Toothless and they would fly away.

Watching the birds, he remembered how he used to play with Toothless and Thinpaws and sometimes Terrible Terrors: they would try to catch birds and sometimes if they were hungry, they would eat those. Today, his brother and he would continue that game, even without Thinpaws. The sunset reminded him of how he and Toothless would fly among the clouds when those were starting to colour itself with the shades of the evening…Oh how he longed to fly again! How he wanted to run again in the forests and mountains! How he wished to roll himself in the sand with the other dragons between two baths!

He wasn't used to be inside a human's building, he had been around those when he attacked human villages, he had even landed on roofs, but he had never been inside of those. Millie's hut had been the only one, but it used to be made of wood and full of little thing that intrigued him. There used to be herbs, flowers and other little things that reminded him of the forest outside and made him more comfortable. Plus he would never stay for long in her hut, he used to leave it whenever he wanted. This place was one he couldn't leave and it felt wrong. It was empty and made of stone like the inside of a cave, but it didn't look like one as there was nothing natural about it. It was too smooth, there was nothing to climb on, and it was cold and hostile, nothing like a warm and comfortable cave where he and his family would sometimes go when it was storming…

He bit his lips, and started to slowly scratch the stone walls. He wanted to go out, he wasn't supposed to be in a place like this! He missed his freedom, he wanted to run, and fly, and climb, and jump in the deepest waters, fight with other dragons, listen to wolves howling at the moon...He wouldn't stay here, no way!

Footsteps were heard in the corridors and he got a strange feeling, his scratching moves stopped. He turned round and saw the big chief looking at him. He remembered Millie explaining him there was a strong 'god' called Thor who would throw lightning. It was probably those same eyes Thor possessed, because the chief's stare was enough to make him cringe, and Hiccup wasn't scared so easily. As the chief entered, he leaned against the wall, aware he was trapped and this time there was no running away. He could either show strength, either be submissive. He didn't want to show any submission, but he knew showing strength wouldn't help. What should he do?

The big man stalked toward him and Hiccup just stood his ground, thankfully the man wasn't holding his axe, yet he probably didn't need it, with the hands he possessed, he could tear Hiccup apart with no need of a weapon. Once Stoick was at his level, he spoke with a voice which could have made even the most ferocious dragon cringe:

"I'll make this quick, devil. You're trapped, and this time there is no flying away. The only way out for you is to tell us where your nest is."

The nest? What did he meant? Was he talking about his and Toothless's nest? Was he talking about Dragon's Island? Whatever, he had the feeling he shouldn't talk, the man had no good intention. He tried to step aside, to put some distance between them, but Stoick roughly grabbed the boy by the arm, stopping him from leaving. Hiccup immediately yelped and went to bit his arm, but a strong hand wrapped itself around his neck, stopping his teeth from attacking. So instead Hiccup trusted his sharp nails in Stoick's wrists and started to dig his skin while kicking, yelping and growling.

The chief grimaced and pushed him against the wall painfully. Hiccup's back and shoulder went sore and he could swear the back of his head started to bleed a little; he felt dizzy. It made him stop struggling as he understood this was useless, it would do nothing against that giant. So instead he shut his mouth and eyes tight while he leaned against the wall to keep balance. He had learned with animals that if struggling couldn't help, then you'd rather go slack and get over with whatever was going to happen. Stoick's hold on his neck lessened, now his hand was just circling it without putting pressure.

"You're a nothing but an unholy spawn, I don't know where the hell you come from, but you were obviously human first. I have no desire to hurt someone so young, even if they are as screwed as you. Now talk, tell me where your nest is."

The boy was keeping his mouth shut and it only made Stoick even more frustrated. Truly a part of him wanted nothing but beat this animal into pulp, screaming that this was not a human being, just another dragon in the body of a child. However another part of him was telling him not to do that, just out of pure moral value: what kind of man would he be, beating a creature who hardly weighted anything against him? Well, he would just shake him up a little, not hurt him badly, but be a little rough, it would probably do.

"Where is your nest? Tell me and we'll free you, we won't hurt you anymore. Hell, someone might pity and let you into their home."

Hiccup opened his eyes and shot him a deadly look. So that was it? They thought of him as some poor little cub lost and begging for humans' attention? Well, he wasn't! He was a dragon, not some puppy. The sky and mountains' highest pits were his home! He barred his teeth and hissed, making the man's eyes narrow. His hold on his neck tightened once more, the kid chocked and Stoick pushed him against the wall again before releasing him. After a yelp of pain, the prisoner rubbed his neck gently while taking big gulps of air. It would probably leave bruises.

"It's that or rotting in this cell forever. How long do you think you can hold on? They told me how you scratched around, I can even see the blood on the floor. You don't want to stay here, then talk!"

Hiccup didn't answer anything again, just glared at his enemy, and retreated into a corner, wanting to be left alone. His previous thought of freedom came back to him again, if he had been free, in the hills and not in this strange-looking cave-like place, then this man wouldn't have hurt him so easily!

"What do you say?!"

The man's voice was even more insistent, he couldn't speak, he wasn't sure what the consequences would be, but he knew it wouldn't be good. But staying here…Never being free again...He didn't have wings but he felt like something had been clipped from him. What if Toothless was feeling the same, with his wounded wing…He imagined his brother in a cage, hurt and obliged to fight in that arena until his last day, while he would remain here desperately scratching those four walls…Maybe Toothless was dead already and he didn't know! Frustration, despair, fear and mostly rage filled him both to the point it became unbearable.

Stoick was growing impatient and exasperated and he was about to yell at the prisoner when suddenly tears fell from the boy's eyes and a sob escaped his throat. The dragon-child clasped his hands against his face and cried freely.

It made the chief's jaw drop as he watched Hiccup's shoulders shake slightly and then it was hard to see a dragon or a devil anymore in this boy, because dragons didn't cry like this. Yes, this creature was still a human being, and shame hit Stoick as he saw himself cornering a skinny and small boy in a cold cell, threatening, manhandling him and making him cry. Was it the kind of exploit he would tell his people and other chiefs? Had his hatred made him so low?

Yet he had to interrogate him, if he only he would speak, damn it! Why couldn't things be simple?! This boy was all that stood between him and his revenge. Yet seeing him cry broke his resolve at that moment, he had been expecting growls, struggle and fighting, but not that. It decided him to leave. He spoke to the guards before.

"Have you fed him already?"

"No, sir."

"Do so. Have him fed every day, ask Bucket for that."

The two nodded and the chief left, feeling tormented. Hiccup continued to sob in his cell, stunning the guards as much as Stoick. He was crying for many different things, but mostly because he feared for his brother and out of rage and frustration. He saw a man enter with some food and it was only once he calmed down that he tried it. The food tasted really weird and there was some strange substance over the vegetable and the meat which he didn't like. He remembered that Millie used to eat things like this, but he always refused to taste her food, his mother was the one feeding him at the time, no one else.

Crying relieved him, he knew the man probably took it as a sign of weakness, but he didn't care about what they thought. If he wanted to cry, no one would stop him, he was free to do so. It helped him and now he felt his resolve grow stronger. It didn't matter how strong those walls were. He and Toothless were free creatures, they wouldn't be submitted, the humans wouldn't keep them long! To hell with whatever they wanted him to say, he wouldn't wait for them to release him, he would take back his freedom! He eventually fell asleep soothed by this blooming will, swearing he would find a way out soon.

 **O o O**

In the training area, Toothless was as worried as Hiccup. He hoped the humans didn't kill his brother. One of them had thrown a stone at him and he had seen his brother fell, unconscious. Oh he would have massacred them all if he hadn't been restrained! When he had last seen him, the giant man who was obviously the chief here was carrying him away, and Toothless had tried to struggle but he had been unable to leave and reach his brother.

Instead, he had been brought to this cage from which he could smell and hear other dragons, though he was alone in the small and dark place they put him in. First, they had tended to his wounds a little, an old woman had put something on his side, and it had made him struggle like crazy. No one but his brother was allowed to touch his wounds! Then they had put some meat on the ground, and hit his head so hard he had felt faint and hadn't been able to stand on his paws anymore. They had taken off his restraints, and had left quickly.

Once he had regained his spirits, Toothless had scratched the floor and the door like crazy, trying to find a way out, he had shot his plasm blast, but this place wasn't about to be destroyed easily. He had finally thrown his body at the door, trying to open it by force. It had only made the wound in his side reopen partially, and after a cry of agony, he had decided to stop. It would be no use.

Now he was just licking his wounds, at least it wasn't bleeding much, yet he wished Hiccup was here to look at it. He liked when his brother would heal him, not only because it would relieve him from the pain, but because it was one of the way to remind Toothless how much they loved each other. He wished to go back to the pond, where he would be resting while Hiccup would roam in the forest.

But they were here, in this village, and the dragon wanted nothing but to fly away, free the other dragons here, take his brother back with him and leave. He felt like he failed to protect him. He knew his brother was born human, and even if he became a dragon, he and their sister Thinpaws had always been protective toward him, because he was smaller than them, and he was an easy prey. Even now that Hiccup could handle himself when facing other beasts he would continue to watch over him.

That was one of the reasons why they were still together even after leaving their mother's nest, and also because they wanted to be together. He wished Thinpaws had came with them, the three of them had grown up together, but she wanted to be on her own. Thankfully, Hiccup was still with him, and Toothless could still fly with him on his back, or watch him run in the hills from above. He had done that so often: watching Hiccup run or climb while he would stay in the air and he loved it, because it allowed him to see his small brother blossoming into life on his own.

He hated the humans who were depriving them of their life. He knew they weren't all like that: the human Millie had been his friend, the friend of all the family. No one but the human Millie had seen them growing up together. Toothless didn't really know it, but encountering the dragon family had been one of the most beautiful things in her life. Sometimes, the old woman had cried out of emotions just by watching them. Of course, she couldn't have explained the reason why her feelings were so intense to Toothless, but in the end, it didn't matter so much, the dragon knew she liked them. He liked her too and it was all that mattered. He wished all humans were like her.

He saw the meat left on the floor but he wouldn't touch it, he was too sad and desperate to eat anything. He rested on the ground, growling softly and other growls answered his plea. He felt a little less alone, but he wanted his brother nonetheless. The feeling to be imprisoned and having failed Hiccup made him sadder than ever. He hardly got any sleep that night.

He woke up only in the morning, when he heard humans talking and approaching his cell. He stood up and growled. The cage opened and Toothless saw the very same humans who captured Hiccup and himself: there were six and the big chief was among them as well. Toothless's will to fight grew stronger than ever as he remembered him hitting his brother back in the forest. He wasn't restrained anymore, he would show them all! He couldn't fly away but he was ready for a good fight!

He growled at the warriors and charged right away toward one with black hair, but as the man was gonna hit him with his hammer to defend himself, Toothless suddenly took a different turn and jumped on the chief, catching him off-guard while he was about to attack the dragon sideway. He tackled the big man on the ground and was about to throw a plasma blast at him when he felt something heavy hit his head. A woman with a hammer was about to hit him again, he reacted quickly by giving one a blow with his tail, sending her crashing on the ground, he hit another warrior with his paw and spat a fire ball at another, the man would have died without his shield.

The chief took the occasion to knock him away and stood up again, but Toothless got on his paws as swiftly and hit again another man with a big whip of his tail and seized another one's leg in his jaw, biting hard before throwing him away against a wall. One down. The chief lunged at him with another man who had a strange metal thing instead of his hand. He charged at the red-haired man and before he could hit with his hammer, Toothless countered the blow by catching the weapon in his jaw and he threw it in the belly of the other man.

"Gobber!" Yelled the red-head

The chief hit him with his bare fist, and Toothless had to admit he was strong, but it wouldn't be enough! He sent his paw at him, but the chief took hold of it and sent another punch in the dragon's face. Toothless went to burn him, but Stoick jumped aside, freeing the dragon from his hold. A woman jumped on his back, but he rolled over, putting all his weight on his assailant. The woman released her hold quickly, smothered by the sudden shock of receiving Toothless's weight on her. He roared madly while hitting with his tail again the other female who was furious for her friend. He received a blow on his wounded wing and he shrieked in pain, and retaliated with furious fire thrown at the warriors around. He charged at a man and seized him in his jaw, shook him and sent him away to crash on the ground again.

Suddenly he felt someone trying to muzzle him. Oh no! No way! He jerked his upper body violently sending the muzzle away and he hit the warrior furiously with his wing. It was again the man with the metal hand. Only he, the chief and the woman he previously hit with his tail were still standing, the three other were on the ground. The woman had difficulty to stand straight; he would have to attack her first. He spat fire at them when they charged, making them roll over to avoid his blasts, and he threw himself at the woman but as he was about to reach her, he felt his paws being forced together as a ropes were wrapping itself around him.

He fell to the ground and immediately started to bit the ropes away, but then a dozen of humans jumped over him with nets and other things to restrain him. He spat fire furiously, struggled and hit them, but he was eventually muzzled and tied again. He growled furiously at the humans as they were taking him away, when he heard something that caught his attention and the attention of all inside the arena.

It was a howl, which sounded like a wolf, but not quite like it, it obviously came from a human throat: Hiccup! His brother never could make the same sounds as a dragon, so he howled like a wolf instead. Toothless struggled madly against his bonds, and humans had to secure him again. He roared like crazy, but not as a threat this time, but to let his brother know he had heard him. Another howl was heard, and Toothless was dragged to the cage were they quickly undid his restrains before locking the door.

The dragon rested on the ground, tired from the fight, his wounds stinging, but he was happy. Hiccup had probably heard him from where he was and he had told him he was alive. At least he knew this, and hope bloomed again since he and his brother had been separated. They could do it, they would escape!

 **The fight scene took so long! It's already difficult to write a fight scene between people, but a dragon against humans! But it was also funny I must say, I listened to two songs of the movie** _ **Spirit, Stallion of Cimarrion**_ **, the movie is good, and some of the songs are great. Those I listened to are:** _ **You Can't Take Me**_ **and** _ **Get Off My Back.**_ **I advise everyone to check it.**

 **Don't hesitate to tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well, not a lot of action here, mostly interactions and development.**

Once Toothless was caged again, some people took care of the wounded Vikings. Many of them had saw what happened and they all had to agree: the Night Fury was impressive. The howl they heard was coming from the prison and no one wondered who it came from. It sent shivers in some of them, although no one would have admitted it. Astrid however felt strangely sad when she heard it, and also somehow fascinated, she had seen that the dragon did react at the sound. What did it meant for those two?

The teens were all here except for Tuffnutt who was home, sick because of something rotten he eat after a stupid bet with his sister. Astrid had to admit, she was quite glad to have her friend only for herself.

"Did you hear that?" Murmured Fishlegs, "he sounded like a wolf."

Astrid was about to answer him, but then, Ruffnutt took her by the arm and pulled her away, leading her out of the arena.

"Did you see the Night Fury? And when you know this beast is actually still wounded!" Ruffnutt exclaimed

"Yeah, it's even more powerful than a Monstrous Nightmare!"

"You know the final test should be against this dragon instead of a Nightmare."

Astrid nodded and as they were walking away from the arena, she decided to tell her friend something when she was sure no one heard her:

"You know, I did a strange dream last night."

"What kind?"

"Well, I was in the woods, then, I see a shadow, and I don't know what to do. There is a voice telling me to follow it, and I don't know what to do, if I should or not. Finally, I follow that shadow, and I get farer and farer from the village. Then, my feet start to leave the ground and I'm suddenly flying, above trees and I am on the back of a dragon, on the Night Fury's back! And it was taking me in the clouds, and I would fly above the sea, above the island…It was great."

This dream had been so vivid it left Astrid almost puzzled once she woke up. She figured it wasn't so strange to dream of a Night Fury, after all they captured one yesterday as well as a wild boy. Yet, this felt still very strange. Ruffnutt seemed amazed by that.

"Wooow…That's would be great, to fly on a dragon's back."

"Ruff, we are Vikings, we aren't supposed to fly on dragons, we are supposed to kill them."

"Yeah, killing dragon is sure fun, but I'm sure you can have other kind of fun with them."

Astrid rolled her eyes. Ruffnutt gestured her to follow her toward Mildew's hut and her friend knew she had a trick in mind.

"It's not about the fun, it's about a duty."

"Oh Astrid you're always thinking about duty, you really lack imagination. Except when you dream, your dreams seem awesome, I must admit it!"

"I don't lack imagination," Astrid said while blushing.

"Yes you do, you're too serious, you always do what you should do. You need to keep an open-mind, you know, like a door…Though doors can be shut…Except if you block them with something, then maybe we should get you something to block your door…"

The girl marked a pause and then turned toward Astrid with a confused frown. Ruffnutt and her brother had this tendency to confuse themselves in the course of their ideas.

"Why did you say you needed to block your door again?"

"Ruff, you're getting confused again. You were telling me to be more open-minded."

"Ah yeah! Well, I was saying, you should be more open-minded, and have a little more fun. You're too serious."

"And you're not enough."

"Then maybe we should get melted together…You know like if we get into a cauldron of hot lava…"

"I wouldn't try. But you know, I have some imagination, it's just that I think that some things have to be handled one way and not another…"

As she pronounced those words, she realized those sounded false and she felt strange. It was her mother who explained her that, and her father agreed and all her life, Astrid believed those. Yes some things could be handled in different ways, but not others and dragons were among those…Yet she felt doubt as those words seemed a little false. Ruffnutt's malicious smile didn't help.

"Prove you have more imagination than that."

She gestured toward Mildew's house with her smile grew bigger and Astrid could perfectly see through her, she knew her friend well, she was just provoking her, challenging her, and though a part of her wanted to say that she wouldn't play her game, her guts just wanted to show Ruff what she could do. Astrid had never been the kind to back off before a challenge and she was used to go with her guts.

"Fine, but we're gonna need some material."

Ruff chuckled at this. Later, they were running away, while Mildew screamed at them, while lamenting over the walls of his house which had been painted in various colours, making it look like a very ugly rainbow. Astrid yelled at him in distance:

"We thought you needed some colours in that sad old shack!"

Ruffnutt was laughing like crazy and turned toward her friend:

"Not the most creative joke of all time, but not bad! The face he made!"

Astrid whole-heartedly laughed and they ran toward the cliff. The wind was blowing strongly, and feeling giddier than usual, Astrid stood at the edge of it and raised her arms in the air, letting the wind push her backward. Ruff did the same and both girls let the wind play with their hair.

"Do you think you feel like this when you fly?" Astrid asked

"I don't know, I think it's probably more awesome!"

She couldn't help but think Ruffnutt was probably right. She thought of her dream again and of her doubts. Something in her was changing, she could feel it, it was slow, subtle, but she could feel it. She wasn't sure if she liked that.

Soon enough, their parents got them and they were punished for what they did to Mildew's hut, and Astrid had to admit, she wasn't feeling remorseful.

 **O o O**

While the girl had been performing their trick, Stoick and Gobber debated if they should let the youth fight the Night Fury or not, Stoick wasn't really fond of this idea.

"We have to prepare them; they are our future warriors after all," Gobber was saying.

"Even I, Spitelout and the most feared warrior of this tribe had a hard time with it, how do you expect them to survive?"

"I don't mean we should do it right away, they don't have the level for now anyway. But once we learned more about and about its weaknesses, and when they get better, then they might have a chance. And you could be here to help along with me."

"What?"

"Why not, you could be here with them, not only to protect them but also to see their level…Oh, what is he doing?"

Stoick wondered what the last sentence was about when he saw Gobber looking at Fishlegs who was sneaking into the prison. Both men perfectly knew that he wanted to take a look at the dragon's prince, even if the chief had forbidden his people to visit the dragon-boy. The youth had been asking many questions about the runt. They didn't know what kind of lie he invented to pass through the guard and it wasn't important for now, they just had to catch the teenager.

Fishlegs was nervous, he didn't like dark places, and this one was, plus he was going to see a prisoner who he had feared for months, but curiosity made him strong enough to go. He had tried to ask Astrid about him, but she just told that he was human and that he hadn't say a word to her. He was indeed human Fishlegs had seen it when they had come back from the forest with him and the Night Fury, but there were still many questions to be answered. The boy hoped that maybe he would be able to make him talk. He passed before some cells, thank God, most of them were empty, the 'prince's' one wasn't far from the entrance anyway so he didn't have to walk for long.

Their prison wasn't very huge, when he reached the cell in which the 'prince' was prisoner, he was astonished again at how _normal_ he looked. He was even small and thin, not at all a frightening creature. The boy wasn't looking at Fishlegs, he seemed in his thoughts, sitting against a wall and staring at emptiness. The young Viking was starting to feel less nervous, when suddenly the dragon's prince noticed his presence (the gods knows how) and snapped his head at Fishlegs. It was enough to send a cold wave of fear through the Viking's body. The 'prince' wasn't a big guy, but his eyes…It seemed like he could have killed you with one look.

The wilding approached and his movements also scared the boy, he wasn't really moving like a human, the way he advanced toward him looked more like the way a wary and angry dragon would approach you. When Hiccup got on his feet, it was to be eyes to eyes with the scared human, still keeping some distance.

' _There are bars to this cell…He can't catch you. Try to talk with him.'_

"Hum…Hey! I'm Fishlegs…Hum…What's your name?"

Hiccup's eyes narrowed, why the hell did that boy want his name? What was he doing here? He could smell his fear. Should he talk? He hadn't say a word and until now, nothing too bad happened to him, he felt like he shouldn't change that. They gave him some food again in the morning, and he didn't get tortured, and apart from the time the chief interrogated him he had been left alone. To tell the truth, the inactivity felt maddening at times, but he knew it could be worse. He had longed to see the blond girl at times, but mostly, he wanted to see his brother and all his dragon friends. He wasn't scared right now, still careful but this boy didn't seem like he would hurt him, no, he was too scared to even approach his cell.

"Well you…" Fishlegs didn't really know what to say, "Your friend the Night Fury is okay, if you wanna know…It gave one hell of a fight against our warriors."

Hiccup was quite satisfied to hear that, yet it didn't surprise him. He knew Toothless was tough, and he heard his yells, that's why he howled: to encourage him. One thing which made Hiccup more optimist was that Toothless's yells weren't very distant, which was actually hinting that the training arena wasn't far, it was useful to know that. He grabbed the bars and got a little closer, the boy seemed even more nervous than earlier. Hiccup wondered if he should talk to that Fishlegs, after all it could be a trap.

The blond boy continued to look at him and wondered if only his words were going through his brain. Then Fishlegs realised something: this savage had certainly lived with dragons all his life, then maybe…

"FISHLEGS!"

Hiccup backed away when he heard that shout, while Fishlegs jumped in surprise. The big man with a red beard appeared and Hiccup hissed like an angry lynx, as if to warn him not to approach. The man hadn't beaten him badly, but he still had bruises and he could see and smell so much anger emanating from him that it was scary. The man threw him a disdainful look, and then turned to Fishlegs:

"What the hell are you doing here? You had no right to approach that cell!"

Gobber was at his side, he looked annoyed. Fishlegs was pale and frightened, he had disobeyed an order which came from the chief and he was going to get punished for that!

"I just wanted to try to talk with him…"

"It's not your job! As long as I don't order you to approach him, you're not allowed to do so, just like the rest of the village. He doesn't want to talk anyway, if I couldn't make him, I doubt you will."

The boy nodded and began to walk away but then stopped. He had to tell the chief:

"Sir, I…You know I don't think he doesn't want to talk…"

Both men turned at him and he was quite intimidated, yet he continued:

"It's probable he was raised by dragons, and if it's the case, who could have taught him how to talk?"

Gobber and Stoick looked at each other, realising that the kid was right, maybe that wilding never spoke to another human being in his life! Hiccup heard that and realised it could actually be useful to him. When the men turned to him, he took an angered and confused expression to fool them.

"I think Fishlegs is right."

Yes! It had worked! Yet he had to be prudent, this could mean they would get rid of him and kill him if they thought he was useless. If it was the case, he would just have to talk and show them he could be of use, if they decided to let him rot here however, he would have the time to think of an escape. The men and he boy left the cell. Hiccup sat down, realising he had another advantage: they would speak freely before him and think he was unable to understand and this would be handy at times, he was sure of it.

 **O o O**

In the Great Hall that evening, Stoick had shared Fishlegs's theory with the other Hooligans and someone had immediately suggested teaching the dragons' prince how to talk. This raised different opinions in the room, and the chief soon had to bang his fist against the table to make people listen to him.

"Stop talking at the same time! Voice your opinions one by one!"

"We can't lose time with this," Mildew said. "If he can't tell us where the nest is, then let's kill him!"

"We can't kill someone so young," Spitelout objected.

Voices rose to approve Mildew, saying they didn't have time, houses were getting burned and their food was stolen since too long. Other started to protest against them, taking Spitelout's side and it was Gobber who was finally heard among the crowd.

"Excuse me, but remind me since how long our village is getting attacked?"

"Generations and it had been far too long!"

"Yeah, so I think we don't lack time. Even if it takes some months to have him talk and tell us where the nest is, then it will be still shorter than years and years of searching."

This argument seemed to make an impression among the crowd and Stoick was glad that his best friend was here, always helping. Gothi went to the center of the room and rose her stick, asking for the silence. Being the elder, she didn't have difficulty to obtain it, and she was heard by all in spite of her feeble voice when she spoke out:

"Gobber is right and beside I don't know how that little lad found himself among dragons, but he shouldn't be here. We could make him become human again, it's not a chance for him to be among dragons. The gods wants us to be fighter, but there is no glory hurting a child. If there is anything to do with him, it's to show him he has to embrace his humanity instead of fighting it."

Some people scoffed at this, but Stoick could clearly see a lot of Vikings soften as well and he was glad to know he wasn't the only one in his tribe to be affected by the fact that this creature was supposed to be a normal boy. He smiled to the elder, the old woman was maybe small and weak now, but she had authority.

"Then it's decided, we will try to work on that boy and get through with him."

"Who will do that?"

"He was less aggressive toward the Hofferson girl," one of the men said, "I was there guarding his cell when she was tending his wounds, he didn't try to bit her or threaten her."

Astrid wasn't in the room, it was late and anyway, children and teenagers weren't allowed participating to that kind of discussion. No need to say that Astrid's parent, Egil and Olga Hofferson, weren't really thrilled by this idea.

"I don't want my daughter to approach him more than necessary," her father countered.

"She is a Viking, she wanted to make her proof, this is a good occasion."

"One makes their proof by fighting dragons, not by nursing one," Olga countered.

"And obeying to your chief's order is also a way to prove your loyalty," Stoick roared, suddenly fed up by so much protest. "It's an order for your daughter to accomplish this mission."

No one dared to protest anymore, understanding Stoick the Vast had enough, and people knew that it was better not to play stubborn with him in this case. Tomorrow, he would officially give Astrid this new mission.

 **Don't hesitate to tell me what you think ^^ I'll try to update soon.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Hi everybody! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it, constructive criticisms are always appreciated.**

When Astrid woke up the next morning, she noticed her parents were grumpy, and she wondered why. They seemed to look at her in a strange way and when she asked them what was wrong, they just said: "You'll see". As if it wasn't weird enough, they received a visit from the chief and she was told she was the one he came for. It didn't surprise her parents, but it definitely surprised her to know the chief wanted to speak to her in particular. But it was nothing in comparison to what she felt when he told her what she would have to do: teach the feral boy how to speak; she gaped and remained totally speechless at first.

"You want… _me_ to do that?"

"You're one of the very few people toward whom he didn't act too badly. That's why we choose you."

If she had been told one day such kind of mission would be given to her, she would have honestly laughed in disbelief. And for a moment, she wanted protest; seriously, she was a warrior, not some nanny! She was made to battle with her axe, push her body to its limits, and not teach someone how to spell out their letters properly! In fact, she felt the urge to take her axe and plant it into something right now, or punch someone (and if that someone could be Snotlout, it would be for the best).

But as soon as she was about to oppose herself to it, she remembered the only times when she was with him. The image of the dragon-boy came back in her mind, and when she envisioned herself facing him again soon, her anger lessened. It wasn't the most adventurous or challenging thing they could have given her to do, and she could see her parents were definitely not thrilled about it. However, it meant she would have the occasion to spend more time with this strange creature about which she thought a little too much, and she would have a good excuse to do that. The mission secretly excited her now, she wanted to observe him and solve the secrets behind that wild child. Not wanting to show enthusiasm, she just accepted without argument, keeping a serious face, she could see the chief was pleased with her not protesting as her parents did.

"I have no idea how to do that," she admitted to Stoick.

"Neither do I, lass. But we got to try and you're the only one he didn't try to hurt or bit. He even tried to attack Buckhead once when the man came to give him food."

She had heard of that, the boy hadn't succeeded because the guards had been there to help but apparently he put up a good fight. Oh yes, Astrid definitely wanted to know more about him. She had dreamed again and this time the dragon-boy had been in her dreams, she couldn't remember what it was all about exactly but she did remember he was in. She couldn't help it, she couldn't help but ask herself a lot of questions, since she encountered him something in her had been shaken.

She took her axe just in case, and went to see Fishlegs. In normal time, when she had a problem, she would be more likely to see Ruff, but in this case Fishlegs was probably the best option. She found the boy in the forge; he was Gobber's apprentice since he was little.

"Hey Fishlegs!"

"Hi Astrid. I heard that the chief gave you a mission."

"Yeah, teaching the savage to speak, and that's why I came to see you, maybe you could give me some ideas?"

"Me? What kind?"

"I don't know, but I never taught anyone to speak, I don't know how to do that."

"Neither do I…I don't know…Maybe you could start to tell him your name?"

"Why?"

"That way he would know who you are and understand that people and things have names."

She nodded, it wasn't a bad idea at all.

"Thank you, I'll try with that!"

"Hey, hum…Maybe you could ask the chief to let me come with you, it would interest me to try to teach him to speak."

"Next time I will, for now I'll visit him alone, to see how it goes. Bye!"

Astrid left him and went to the prison. On her way, she decided to take something first, in order to ease things up. Being informed of what the girl had to do, the guards let her pass immediately. The prisoner was looking outside when she reached his cell, but quickly turned his head to see her. He looked genuinely surprised at her sight, but tensed when she entered the cell. His eyes went on the fish she was holding.

"Hi…Here, take this."

He smiled but didn't approach her, even if the fish made him salivate already. The man feeding him had given him only those strange meals he didn't like and he had eaten some but always it was making him feel sick, so he wouldn't eat much and he was hungry. She had a salmon, one of his favourite fishes. Yet this could be a trap. The girl seemed to sense his hesitation and put the fish on the ground and backed away a little. With no warning, Hiccup rushed toward it, put his claws around it and backed away with his meal.

Astrid had jumped in surprise, now she watched him crawl toward the back of the cell and she was half fascinated and disgusted when she saw him crouch on the ground and start to eat the raw fish. She saw a bowl with some food on the floor but it was hardly consumed, so why was the boy hungry like this?

' _He is not used to that food, just like he never learned to talk, he probably never ate anything cooked like this before_ ,' she figured out.

She went to him as he was tearing the fish apart with his teeth and nails, and he stopped to look at her suspiciously, recoiling away slightly. Astrid then saw something that made her eyes widen a little: the boy had bruises on his neck, as if someone had chocked him. Who did that? One of the guards? She would have to know who, but it explained why the boy was so wary, in fact knowing of feral he was it was already good that he wasn't more afraid.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, don't worry," she said as softly as she could.

She knew he couldn't understand her, but animals tended to be reassured by a soothing voice, and here it seemed to work indeed, his stance relaxed slightly and his look softened. She sat down on the floor slowly and pointed to herself:

"Astrid."

He titled his head to the side, and gave her a questioning look. She did it again.

"Astrid."

Having no answer from him, she took a second to think:

"As…trid," she said more slowly.

He wiped his mouth and put the fish on the floor as he understood what she wanted to do. They thought he couldn't talk so they wanted someone to teach him, that way he would tell them what they wished to hear. What should he do? He had to continue his act, yet if he really gave them no hope then they could decide to get rid of him. Plus he wanted to please her, she looked genuinely nice and he was glad to know her name.

"Tr…Tr…"

"Trid…Astrid," she clarified again.

Hiccup acted as if it took him some tries, but eventually he pronounced the word 'Astri', making the sound 'tri' sound like a raspy growl. The girl looked satisfied even if it wasn't the entire word.

"You probably don't even have a name. We will have to find you one. Or maybe you'll wis to choose one yourself, why not? It would be at least one advantage to be named at a late age, you would have the choice of your name."

It was true 'Hiccup' wasn't necessarily the best name. He hoped they wouldn't try to rename him. Yet what would be the problem? He had no intention to stay for long. He took his fish again for another bit, and as he was tearing a piece of it with his teeth, he suddenly realized he had been ungrateful. He made the big bit he had in his mouth fall right before her and she recoiled slightly before this.

"What are you doing?"

Didn't she like fish? He remembered Millie whenever he would give her some of his hunt, she would give him a kiss on the forehead and put it among her stock. He pushed the food closer to her. She pointed herself.

"For me?"

He just gave her a smile and made a chewing sound to make her understand. She pushed it away and just shook her head to say 'no'. He just tilted his head, and she shook her head again. He took his bit back and eat it, if the girl didn't want it, he wouldn't waste it. She had a quite disgusted face and he genuinely wondered why. But it didn't matter much, the salmon was good and he was happy she came. Feeling that he could trust her, he put the salmon down and approached her, making her obviously a little puzzled by this sudden behaviour. He looked more closely at her and approached his face form hers to nuzzle her like dragons did when they started to get acquainted. He wasn't aware this wasn't the human way to befriend someone.

Seeing him lean closer, Astrid just seized his shoulders strongly and pushed him away, obviously nog really happy with the gesture, wondering if the boy had tried to kiss her or not. She had never let a boy kiss her and she had no wish to try right now.

"What are you doing?"

At his lost expression, she understood he probably didn't mean anything wrong in it, he was a feral one and he was probably only doing what animals did…

She was surprised again when she saw him suddenly throwing himself to the side and roll himself on the ground in a playful way. What in all Helheim…He looked up at her with a happy face and leaped around her joyfully, reminding her of a dog or even a happy goat. She seriously wondered if she should take her axe when he stopped and looked at her again with a smile, tilting his head again, as if he was expecting something. She was really getting puzzled, usually when someone was making her uneasy, she would either leave or punch them, but here she was aware none of those solutions would help much.

"Asssstrii…"

He pointed at her while speaking. She was almost surprised when he tried to say her name but also satisfied, he understood.

"Astrid…You almost get it, try again."

She was a little creeped by his behaviour but also pretty enthralled too, it was always that way she felt toward the unknown. He wasn't a mean creature she realized, all his attacks on the guards and even Bucket were made out of fright, he wasn't attacking her because he thought she was no enemy. Yet he had been raised by dragons, shouldn't he be a ferocious bloodthirsty creature? She remembered him with the Night Fury, the way the creature reacted at the boy's howl…Dragons could feel, and the human they raised became ferocious in fight but also playful and innocent.

He was still blocking on the 'd' sound, but it didn't matter much for now. Hesitantly, she advanced her hand slowly toward him and when he straightened his stance she stopped, just leaving her hand raised in the air. He was crouching on the ground, facing her while she was sitting more gracefully. He tilted his head again and leaned forward sniffed her hand slightly and eventually rubbed his forehead slightly against her skin. She felt something blooming in her belly, and when he backed away a little she was somehow disappointed. Astrid had never tamed a wild animal, now she was taming a wild boy. He was looking in her eyes with emotion and she wondered what he could be thinking.

Hiccup was remembering the first eye contact they ever had, while they were fighting. He had felt something strange back then, looking at another human in the eyes, another human who wasn't Millie. He wanted to escape this place, but he also wanted to see her again. She could be a human friend too.

The guards eventually came to check on Astrid.

"Are you alright, girl?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…I'll come back later."

The boy looked pretty disappointed when she left, Astrid gave him a smile to reassure him, she would come back later indeed. For now, she needed to be alone to sort out some things, clear her head a little. Dragon training would take place this afternoon and she had no doubt her friends would ask many questions about it. She'd rather be prepared for that.

 **O o O**

Hiccup was lying lifelessly on the ground when the guard passed before his cell.

The man was mostly intrigued by the kid's position, he didn't seem to be sleeping, he was spread on the ground, as if he had suddenly vanished, his hand extended as if he had tried to get up and crawl. He feared the boy to be dead, though he didn't know what could have killed him, the feral boy could have hurt himself or be sick. The man entered the cell and kneeled to the unmoving kid, hoping he was just ill.

When the man put his hand on his forehead, the boy's hand jerked suddenly and seized his sword, and the guard leaped away in time to avoid the blade getting planted in his stomach.

The dragon-boy went on his feet immediately and flew out of his cell. Thinking he couldn't understand them, the guards had talked freely before him, and he had heard them say that there would be less of them today, but they thought it wouldn't be much of a problem as except for Hiccup, there was only one or two prisoners who weren't really dangerous. The guard in the cell realised with horror that he allowed the dragon prince to escape. He went back on his feet and yelled out:

"Prisoner escaping!"

Another guard saw Hiccup trying to get away and attempted to stop him but the boy spotted a torch burning on the wall, took it and threw it into one's man's face. The warrior yelled out of pain, and fall on his hand and knees, holding his face. Two other guards began to pursue him but they were behind, Hiccup couldn't care less, as long as the exit was close to him.

However, when he was about to pass the exit, another guard suddenly appeared, it was a young woman, she wasn't very tall but quite muscular. Hiccup countered the blow of her axe and deflected it only to spit in her eyes. The girl backed her head slightly giving Hiccup enough time to hit her at the throat hard with the handle of the sword. The girl fell on her knees, holding her throat as she was unable to breathe. He took the occasion to run away before the other guards could reach him, he didn't have much time, he knew it.

Hiccup ran to the arena, behind him, the guards were exiting the prison and yelling around that he escaped. He ran faster than he ever did and jumped in the ring as quickly as he could. He landed hard, but didn't pay attention to the pain in his legs, he got on his feet immediately and heard gasps. That's when he realised people were in there: Astrid, four teens and a man. In his haste, he hadn't seen them! The group was stunned when they saw that boy jumping suddenly in the middle of nowhere. Gobber had been telling them about Nadders and how to fight them efficiently, he was about to release the beast when Hiccup jumped in.

"It's the prince!" Yelled Fishlegs

Thankfully, they were quite far away from him and Hiccup immediately went to his brother's cage, recognizing which one thanks to the smell. He opened it and found Toothless muzzled and chained. When the dragon saw him he struggled against his bond and Hiccup barely got the time to cut off his muzzle with his sword before being pulled away from his dragon by Gobber's strong hand. He struggled and yelled like crazy and fell on the ground painfully as he escaped the man's hold. It wasn't really his struggle which helped him, but the smithy didn't bother much about him anymore when he got sight of Toothless shooting the rest of his bonds with his plasm. Gobber yelled:

"Take care of him, I'll handle the dragon! Get him ALIVE"

Hiccup barely got the time to get on his feet, realising he had let go of his sword when he had been grabbed by Gobber. Snotlout attacked him frontly but the prince dodged the attack, threw himself at the boy's side, tackling him and bit his face strongly. Snotlout yelled out of pain and tried to get the boy off of him with no avail as blood was starting to run down his face.

"HELP!"

Astrid kicked the prince off Snotlout, threw herself at him and pinned him down.

"Stop it! I can't let you…"

He trusted his knee in her kidney and her hold lessened. He pushed her away and soon it was the twins who tried to attack him but when they threw each others at him, Hiccup rolled on the side, barely avoided Fishlegs and Astrid's next attack and managed to grab back the sword he stole from the guard and turned round to face the group. He hissed, showing his teeth in a threatening manner. All the five were struck at how inhuman he looked at the moment, Snotlout's blood smearing his lips.

Hiccup attacked immediately and Snotlout's shoulder would have been sliced if Ruffnutt hadn't countered the attack with her own axe. He swung his sword at her and Ruffnutt barely got the time to dodge when someone suddenly tackled Hiccup to the ground. It was Astrid again:

"Stop it, you only make it worse!"

For some seconds, they looked at each other, and Hiccup saw in her eyes that she actually wanted to protect him; she didn't want him to get killed but he was a dragon and he would never renounce to his freedom. He threw his elbow into her ribs to get free but was stopped by Fishlegs who tried to immobilize him too. Hiccup bit his hand hard, earning a loud yell from the boy and struggled like crazy against Astrid who was doing her best to hold him down. Hiccup tried to bit her face and she backed away, allowing him to try to get on his feet.

Meanwhile Gobber did have a hard time with Toothless who had managed to tear off most of his bonds in spite of the man's effort to restrain him again; in fact the Viking almost got killed by one of Toothless's plasma blast. The dragon tore his last bond and was now free. He seized Gobber by the arm and threw him powerfully against the wall. He was about to help Hiccup when he heard other voices: more Vikings were coming! He threw a plasma blast at the teens to disperse them, avoiding his brother.

Hiccup saw the Vikings entering; it was only two of the guards from the prison and two other warriors. He knew what he had to do. The teens weren't really focusing on him anymore but their eyes were transfixed on the Night Fury, Hiccup took the opportunity to roar:

" _Free yourself!"_

" _No way!"_

" _Do it, you'll free me later! There is something I must do here. GO!_ "

Toothless threw a plasma blast at the arena's chains and though he wanted to stay with his brother, he trusted Hiccup with whatever he had in mind. He flew away and swore that he would come back with every back up possible to free his brother and the other dragons here.

Meanwhile, Hiccup yelled like a crazy animal and attacked the teens again, going at Snotlout. His face bleeding from the previous attack, he tried to throw his axe at Hiccup but the prince countered with a hard blow and Snotlout's axe flew out of his hand. The two didn't fight anymore as the adults started to try to catch him with nets and bolas, trying to protect the teens from this furious creature. He knew that would happen, all he had done was to distract them in order to free Toothless. He had nothing to do in reality, he just said that to make Toothless go, if he had just got on his brother's back, they would have thrown nets and bolas at them and catch them back.

He dodged what was thrown at him and backed toward the nearest cage, there was a Gronkle in, maybe he could...

"Stop! Let me handle this!"

It was the chief! Hiccup snarled at him. He saw numerous Vikings had entered the arena along with the chief. They gathered around him, encircling the boy with no way out. He knew he was trapped now but it didn't matter, Toothless was alive and gone.

Stoic looked at the boy who was holding a sword and who had blood on his lips. He briefly saw Snotlout bleeding and understood what happened. His face twitched in disgust for this creature which had nothing human except for his body, with his tunic partially torn up and that blood on his face he looked even beastlier. When Hiccup hissed at him like a lynx, the chief threw himself at him. Hiccup dodged and tried to plant his sword in the man's side but Stoick seized the teens arm swiftly and sent his fist right on the boy's face so hard it knocked him out. The boy went limp as darkness overtook him.

The chief hauled the prince on his shoulders and went back to the prison. Astrid followed him out of the arena, stunned at how human the boy looked again now that he was knocked out while some minute ago, he seemed more like a wild beast. When she thought about it, was certainly hard: he was too much of a dragon to live among humans, and she bet he was too human to really fit among dragons. It was like some kind of curse.

She decided she would take what was needed to tend to his wounds, even if she wasn't asked to, she felt this task was hers. She went back at the arena where the twins were happily telling everyone how the prince had bitten Snotlout.

 **Hiccup is now the only prisoner, what will Toothless do? I hope you liked it, I'll try to update soon!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Hi everybody! I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter, a certain part wasn't really easy to write but I finally managed. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed, I take the occasion to thank the Guests who published reviews since I can't write back directly to you. Have a good time with that one!**

The escape of the Night Fury and the Dragon's Prince's attack on the arena had been noticed by pretty much everyone, and the few who didn't know about it were told very soon. Snotlout's biting marks had been looked over by Gothi, and the boy had complained profusely until his father came around, not wanting his dad to see him complain. Stoick was angry, the Fury escaped, that frigging wilding made the dragon escape! He couldn't kill that blasted Fury, it had to be kept in the arena for training, yet at least he would have got the occasion to pass his nerves on it. But no, now it would be impossible.

He made the unconscious boy slide off of his shoulder and wondered how such a runt could fight like he did, the teens weren't bad fighters at all, not to mention the way he escaped. He still had blood on his lips and chin, but also some bruises from the day he got captured, the moment Stoick squeezed his throat and the punch from earlier was already forming something bad. All this was a mix which made Stoick feel disgust and pity at the same time. What were they going to do with him? Maybe he should go to Gothi for some advices, usually he would go to Gobber whenever he needed to talk but right now, maybe the elder would be a better idea.

The boy did something bad, but he could still be useful to them. Astrid told him he had tried to tell her name; maybe the girl would indeed get to something, even if it was starting slow. Stoick crouched to look at him more closely, he remembered the day he cried, it was maybe at this moment he had understood things would be complicated. With dragons, things were somehow simple; they were monstrous beasts with claws and fangs which needed to be killed but here they had a creature in between, and seeing him cry had awoken Stoick's fatherly side. He was in a strange situation in which he was repulsed to hurt the one who repulsed him, because he couldn't help but feel sad for him.

He got out of his reverie when he heard guards talking. The chief went out of the cell and faced the guards who knew their time had come.

"What happened?"

"Well, he was lying on the floor and I thought that maybe he was dead, so I went to check out. He stole my sword and got out of the cell."

"You really got tricked and robbed of your weapon by this runt?"

The man lowered his eyes in shame. Another guard explained that there had been less of them today because there had been a disease spreading among them. To avoid contamination, the sick ones had been sent away.

"You failed to inform me of this, you should have! I would have assigned other people to replace the sick ones! Not telling your chief about a problem of security is a big failure! Now we lost the Night Fury."

"It's that wilding's fault…"

"That wilding isn't under my orders! It's not his duty to report to me, it's yours! Anyone taken prisoner tries to escape! You however should have been able to keep him in there; instead he got out, freed the Fury and attacked several inhabitants, and whatever you say you're the first to be blamed!"

None of the guards dared to protest, Stoick's lecture wasn't long but it was harsh. The chief decided he would search for people to replace the guards as quickly as possible, even if the Dragon Prince didn't try to escape again, other prisoners could attempt something as well. He sighed and while walking away from the prison, he encountered his brother who was coming back from Gothi's hut.

"Sorry for your boy, Spitelout," Stoick sighed, "that beast will have to be watched more than we thought."

"Maybe now you're reconsidering your decision Stoick?" Asked Mildew who appeared from behind before Spitelout could answer.

"Mildew, that's enough."

"He hurt someone of the village, you can't ignore that!"

"My son is a strong boy, he'll get over it," Spitelout hissed. "And I don't say that I'm not angry at that wilding, but I'm still against killing him. Kids always fight against one another anyway, it's not the first time for Snotlout."

"You two are way too tender…"

"Mildew is right," another warrior said while coming toward them, "that thing is dangerous, if he behaves like a dragon then he should be treated like one..."

"There is a difference between being too tender and being a monster, you seem not to see it," Stoick retorted. "Don't you remember what Gothi said? The gods made us warriors to fight against dragons and other warriors, not children. You want to kill him? Fine, but then you're the one who will have to behead this child before the whole village and show his blood to everyone on your axe."

The warrior lowered his eyes, the idea of having to kill a young boy (even a feral one) obviously not so appealing to him. Mildew just snorted, and Spitelout continued for his brother:

"That's something Outcasts would do. Plus I don't see why we should be scared, we're strong Viking men, we aren't going to get intimidated by some ruse a little devil pulled over. Maybe you're too scared of him, Mildew?" Spitelout questioned tauntingly.

The men left the brothers with no other protest, Mildew only growling in his beard. Both Stoick and Spitelout smirked at this before walking back to the Great Hall.

"I forget to thank you by the way, for supporting me yesterday at the village's council."

"It's normal, and I thought what I said. That wilding is no older than my son, maybe younger even, it would be hard to ignore that. Stoick, if we succeed and make him human again, should we keep him in the village? Where will he go?"

"I don't know. He still repulses me a little to be honest. Maybe some people will accept him in their home and take care of him. Gobber never had any children, nor Bucket or Svala the baker. I know he bit Bucket but I don't think he should keep a grudge."

"Bucket probably doesn't know what the word means."

The two laughed together, Stoick felt a little better now. His brother and he weren't the closest siblings in the world, but they were getting along pretty well and they were here for each other when they needed. Spitelout had done his best to support him a lot when Stoick had lost his baby. The two saw Astrid holding a cloth and a bowl of water, followed by Fishlegs going toward the prison and they were joined by Snotlout who was trotting back from Gothi's hut with bandages on his face. If he had gone alone, Stoick might have feared Snotlout to try to get revenge on the boy, but if Astrid was around, there was no risk. He hadn't been blind to the fact the girl seemed to have gotten slightly attached to the creature, yet he guessed it was somehow unavoidable.

 **O o O**

Astrid sighed while she kneeled next to the unconscious form; the prince was lying on his side, a big bruise on his face and Snotlout's blood still on his lips and chin. Astrid observed him silently for a short moment; he still didn't have a human aura. One thing was sure: she was feeling sad to see him wounded like this, even if it wasn't big wounds. Even if she should have resented him for what he had done, fighting her and her friends and putting them in danger, seeing him like this only awoke her protective side as she was very aware she was probably the only one here who was really friendly toward him, the only one who didn't want to keep him alive because he could be of use.

As she looked at him, she wondered for a moment if it was her, Snotlout and Fishlegs observing the wild boy, or if Fishlegs and Snotlout were here observing her and the wild boy.

She began to clean his face slowly, trying to wake him up in the process. Fishlegs didn't dare to approach much, along with Snotlout who was pouting. Astrid hadn't paid much attention when he got hurt and he convinced himself it was because she was a warrior and not a healer, but here she was healing a prisoner, who was just like a dragon and who bit his face at this!

"Why are you taking care of him? You didn't take care of me at all!"

"Stop being a cry-baby Snotlout," answered the girl, "beside don't count on me to nurse you."

"You are nursing him!"

"It's different."

She was about to put some ointment on him when he woke up, blinking to stabilize his vision. The first thing he saw was Astrid's face. Even though she had fought against him, he felt relieved when he saw her, he knew she wouldn't try to hurt him, unless if it was really necessary. He had attacked people of her tribe, he couldn't held a grudge on her for defending them. She looked a little worried in fact, but maybe his dizzy mind was just imagining this.

"Astri…"

It made her smile warmly. He remembered he wasn't supposed to be able to pronounce the letter 'd' in the little act he pulled. He didn't like lying to her, Millie taught him it was bad, and animals hardly lied. But he had to, just like he did with Toothless.

Both Fishlegs and Snotlout were looking at the pair, quite wary that the boy would try to hurt Astrid, but when the girl began to apply some ointment on his face he didn't try anything. His face twitched very slightly but that was all.

"You shouldn't have tried this. Look at you now. The Night Fury is free but I don't know what the chief will decide about you."

The boy blinked and wished to tell her something, anything…Maybe if he got free, he would try to meet her again, avoiding carefully the rest of her village…He was still laying on his side, looking at her when Snotlout broke the atmosphere between them:

"If the chief decides to kill him, it won't bother me!"

When he saw Snotlout, the boy got on his feet immediately and hissed in an animalistic way again, freaking out both boys; Astrid however got on her feet too and placed herself before Hiccup:

"Stop! They won't hurt you; there is no need to attack again."

Hiccup looked at her and though he continued to throw a death glare at the Viking boy he stopped hissing. Astrid turned to Snotlout:

"Get out."

The boy scowled and left, Fishlegs stayed but obviously it wasn't bothering the prince much. Hiccup actually remembered him, and he wasn't really dangerous, he could feel that. He let Astrid put some ointment on him again and finally she left, giving him another smile. Hiccup lay down on the ground, happy. His brother was free and he got the occasion to see this girl again. The air became colder because of an icy wind and Hiccup curled into a tight ball and tried to use his fur to keep warm. This night would be colder than the last ones.

 **O o O**

Since the dragon boy and the Night Fury had been captured three days ago, there had been no dragon attack on Berk, the most superstitious people believed that their capture had something to do with it, that maybe taking the boy had been like taking the dragon's strength. Of course many people laughed at those suppositions and they were right to do so when the village was attacked again, some hours after the boy freed the Fury.

It was pretty much the usual attack, Astrid however had the feeling that the Night Fury would come back for the wild child. Everyone thought that the dragon abandoned him, because dragons couldn't feel loyalty. However, Astrid had doubts. She had seen, the morning the boy howled while warriors were trying to fight the black dragon, she had seen the beast's look, it was heart-breaking, like he was desperate to see the boy again. And in the arena, she had seen how he had shot at them in order to protect him. In fact, when she remembered what happened, it had seemed like the boy had made him leave.

She was thinking about that while they were throwing buckets of waters on a house on fire, she tripped while going back to the well, and just had time to seize Tuffnutt's arm to avoid falling.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Sorry Tuff."

"I think it's the first time I see you trip, it's pretty funny," he teased.

"Yeah, he is right," Ruff added.

Astrid gave her a death glare, only to earn a laugh from her friend.

"You know, when I think about it, maybe it's your boring lesson that made the 'prince' want to leave so badly," the girl said.

"Very funny, Ruff!"

"I remember the day you tried to teach us how to properly throw an axe, I thought I was going to fall asleep!"

"Yeah, and instead you and your stupid brother put cockroaches in Fishlegs's shirt!"

"We had to keep ourselves awake, you don't know what it is to be like us Astrid, always thinking of so many tricks! Anyway what's wrong with you?"

They were refilling their buckets and started to run again.

"Nothing's wrong."

"You didn't tell us what happened with the wilding."

"We didn't have time."

"You like him?"

This time Astrid stopped in her tracks and Ruffnutt was stunned. Astrid _never_ stopped during work, in fact she was the one making them all exhausted.

"I don't!"

Astrid wasn't a good liar, even people who didn't know her could tell, so for someone who had grown up with her it was obvious she was trying to hide the truth.

"You do! Don't worry, I like him a little too, after all he bit Snotlout, and he is pretty good at fighting. Who could tell from someone so scrawny?"

She liked him? Astrid shook away the idea that Ruffnutt meant it in a romantic way, the girl was pretty much like her for that: boys weren't of much interest for her. They went back running when the boys called for them. All her life, Astrid had felt she could rely on Ruff, even if the girl could be dim or very annoying, she was loyal. However, for the very first time she felt that maybe she should keep her doubts and feelings for herself.

They finally succeeded to extinguish the house, when they saw the bakery was starting to get on fire. The twins yelled out: they loved Svala's bread and cakes, the bakery was therefore one of the very rare places which were rarely targeted by their pranks. And if the twins were willing to spare the bakery, they would certainly not let any dragons attack it!

They ran faster than the other, yelling to everyone to protect the bakery, even harder than Svala herself. If the situation hadn't been serious, Astrid would have laughed to see them like this. Snotlout as swearing, he was in a foul mood since what happened this morning. To be honest, Astrid was feeling a little sorry for him, but she didn't want to be too nice to him, the boy had tried to hit on her more than once and she didn't want to give him encouragement.

"Night Fury!"

This sudden yell made everyone around shield themselves, yet no one got hurt. Berk's prison was shot by one of the dragon. The wall targeted wasn't destroyed, but Astrid's suspicions were confirmed: the dragon came back. A howl was heard from the prison, it was their prince's call.

 **O o O**

In his cell, Hiccup was pacing, turning and growling like crazy. He could hear the dragons outside, he had howled at them, hoping one would come and free him. He was sure Toothless was around, he was sure of it! The guards were speaking, he could hear them very well:

"We should be out there fighting!"

"Remember the orders: we must keep our position, if the prisoner is freed, Stoick will kill us."

Hiccup smirked: oh he would be free, in spite of all their efforts, he would be free! He howled again, loudly enough to make his throat bleed, and he heard the sound of something hitting the bars of his cell. It was one of his jailers who slammed against the bars with his axe.

"Stop that, demon!"

He growled, hoping the man would try to come in: it would be a good occasion to bit him. He was pulled out of reflexion when he suddenly heard a violent shock against the wall outside, and his face lightened with joy as he knew what it was: a plasma blast thrown against the wall.

"Night Fury!"

Sounds of fire and shock echoed from everywhere and Hiccup understood that there were several dragons attacking, Toothless wasn't alone in this. He heard the distant yell of a Nadder and he was pretty sure Stormfly came along, then the smell of a Zippelback's gas made him understand she wasn't the only one. Though the guards had been told to keep their position, defending the prison against outside attack was also their job, so a big amount of them went outside to fight off dragon. Hiccup threw himself at the bars, grabbed one of the men's hairs by surprise and managed to pull him against the iron hard enough to stun him and make him fall on the ground. From his cell, he wouldn't be able to make much contribution, but he could at least bring a little help.

The guard wasn't knocked off, a woman came at his side to check on him after making Hiccup back off with the threat of her axe.

"I'm fine, go fight them, I'll keep an eye on him."

Another violent hit was heard and this time the wall lost some stones. The guard entered the cell quickly, understanding he couldn't let the prince in here. Hiccup hissed at him angrily and backed away, not to close to the wall which was about to fall down.

"You're coming with me, little bastard!"

When he grabbed Hiccup's arm, the teen bit him off as strongly as he could, his teeth digging into his flesh and then he shook his head to rip it off. It made the man release his arm but he also sent his fist into his head, and though that stopped Hiccup from biting him, the wilding retaliated by scratching his face, aiming for the eyes, then he went to punch him but the man pushed him away hard, making him land on the ground painfully.

The man went to him and Hiccup was about to try to stand up when another loud noise echoed, surprising both the guard and prisoner. Hiccup backed away from the wall, and the man did the same, and barely avoided getting knocked off by stones flying through the cells.

The wall was finally blown by a plasma blast and though Hiccup received a stoned against the arms as he was protecting his head, he couldn't be happier. He advanced toward the hole and was expecting to see Toothless but the dragon who entered had yellow eyes. She threw a plasma blast at the guard who hardly had time to throw himself aside but knocked himself off by landing against the wall.

" _Thinpaws!_ "

His sister gave him a happy shriek as he jumped on her back and rubbed his head against her skull and neck in affection as she started to fly away. Another shriek was heard and this time he saw Toothless flying at their side, and he understood he had protected their sister from warriors while she was blasting Hiccup's cell. He saw various dragons around the prison, Stormfly among them just as he thought. Another plasma blast was thrown, but this time, he saw it was their mother flying above them and he laughed out happily seeing that the three of them had come here.

" _Long time no see, little brother_!" His sister exclaimed.

" _I'm so happy to see you all_!"

As they started to fly away from the island of Berk, Hiccup raised his arms in the air in victory, oh it was so good to fly again! He howled again but in joy this time, and his siblings shrieked with him. Soon, their mother joined them and Hiccup gave her a happy smile. He hugged his sister again and let them take him wherever they decided to go, he didn't care, as long as they were far from humans. Yet as he looked back at the island, he couldn't help but think of Astrid. He was happy to be free, but there was still one thing he regretted on this island.

 **Finally Thinpaws and Calla showed up and Hiccup is free! I'll try to update the next chapter soon enough, the adventures of our feral Hiccup are far from over! Don't hesitate to tell me what you think! Also tell me if there are mistakes, English isn't my first tongue.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Hi everyone! Here is the new chapter. No action in this one, more dialogue, but it's quite essential to determine people's state of mind. Also, I realise I totally got Bucket's name wrong, I called him Buckhead since the beginning of this fic! Lol! I'll correct that as soon as possible.**

 **Enjoy!**

The dragon attack was over quite soon, and few things were stolen, yet it didn't mean it was a victorious night on Berk. Astrid was looking at the damages inflicted on the prison as long as many other villagers. Several dragons attacked to get back their boy, there had been three Night Furies among them, something which was rarely seen.

"He is out now…"

A glimpse of a smile reached her lips and she wiped it away quickly, hoping no one saw that.

"You think he'll come back?"

Snotlout tried to sound factual and cool, but the worry in his voice had been clear enough, not only for Astrid but also for the twins.

"Oh yeah, he'll come back, sneak into your house and try to bit the rest of your face off," Tuff snickered.

"Sh...Shut up, he doesn't even know where I live."

"That's true, then maybe he'll simply do it during a dragon attack, he'll jump from the sky and right into you, and then he'll finish what he started…" Ruff continued.

"Because he is like a dragon, and dragons don't like unfinished business," Tuff concluded.

"I'm pretty sure he is talking about you to his Furies in their dragon's language…"

"Cut it off you two…"

"See what happened?!"

Astrid's words were cut off by Mildew's voice. The old man was standing there, facing Stoick.

"I told you we should have killed that runt! Now he is back with his dragons and he will attack again…Ouch!"

It was his turn to be interrupted by a blow from Gothi's staff to his skull. Everyone's eyes went on the Elder who spoke in a higher voice than usual.

"Silence, Mildew! Your cold black heart is speaking again, and I won't hear it! Your tongue is dripping so much venom it's sickening! Aren't you tired spreading fear and hate in the hearts of this village? Vikings aren't ones to be afraid, we fight dragons and mighty warriors alike, we stand tall when we face the storms and the coldest winters, and here you want to lower us to fear a child?! Shame on you for trying to do that to us!"

Gothi always had a talent to find the right word at the right moment and with her authority and experience this talent was even more appreciated. Her words made a big impression on people who whispered

"That demon has dark magic in him!"

"Oh please, we would have seen it if he had!" Svala the bread-maker huffed. "Worse things would have happened!"

"Yeah, he did no magic while in jail," one guard added. "It's a vicious little runt and I also would like to make him pay, but he is no demon, we have to admit it."

"Plus, dark magic has to be learned, how would a child who cannot even speak know about dark magic? He probably doesn't even know what magic is!" Gobber added.

"Then how do you explain dragons come to rescue him? How do you explain that he can fly on their back?" Another man added, supporting Mildew.

"They did it like dogs come to their master. And even if the child really has power to make dragons rescue him, I'm not afraid, dragons don't frighten me," Stoick declared proudly. "I fought the mightiest among those beasts, I won't back up before a boy who probably has no power except in your imagination, Mildew. Gothi is right, stop trying to shame us by turning us into cowards."

The Vikings were proud and stubborn people, and if there was something they hated it was to be called cowards, and though a lot of them were actually wondering if Mildew could be right about that boy having dark magic, their pride and stubbornness took over.

"We will get that boy back," Gothi added. "As for dark magic, I can be pretty sure he has none, if you really need that to be reassured, Mildew."

The man lowered his head in shame, as he felt the stares on him. All his life he had never been a good warrior, but at least no one could reproach him cowardice, and now everyone was looking at him as if he was an old wuss.

"Even if he doesn't have dark magic, he needs to be punished," someone said.

"And he will be until he pays back for his fault by giving us the nest. He is more useful alive than dead, do I have to remind you of that? Come on everyone, there is work to do, we'll discuss that matter once we're done," Stoick ordered.

People didn't contest this order and got back to work. The teens would do their part of the job as well, but after some minutes, Astrid was interrupted by a man and a woman while she was cleaning the mess.

"Girl, it's you who had to teach him to talk, isn't it?"

"Yes, why?"

"I know the shaman said he didn't have dark magic, but we doubt it," the man explained.

"Well, I can tell you he doesn't. I interacted with him several times, he did nothing to me. And even when he fought against us, he just had his words."

"Yeah, plus he always had only a sword when he fought during raids," Fishlegs added. "In fact, since he started to come with dragons, things didn't change much, he just free them and make things a little more difficult but in the end, he did nothing more."

"Yeah, there is nothing magic. He is just like a Terrible Terror, when you think about it!" Ruff exclaimed, "He is small but he can bit the hell out of your face!"

This made not only Snotlout but also Tuff pout a little, her twin brother had been indeed bitten by a Terrible Terror during training one day and he wasn't proud of it.

"Good one," Astrid told her, seeing her friend was proud for putting down not only her brother but also Snotlout in one row.

The two girls smiled at each other in complicity before Astrid turned to the couple again, and she noticed other people were listening.

"Frankly, every time I was with him, he was acting like an animal and that's all. In fact he wasn't even bad with me, but maybe that's because I was healing him or bringing him food each time. It's like an animal, if you're nice with him he is nice with you. He was trying to talk, he was starting to say my name…"

She stooped right there, feeling sad suddenly. Her words and expression obviously left them perplex but they didn't protest. She heard people talking around them, she knew that what she and the other said had left an impression. She hoped that people would come to realize Mildew was wrong, that boy was not a demon…Sadness hit her harder and she went back to work only because she knew she couldn't do otherwise, but her only wish was to go away from everyone, maybe in her bed or in the forest to hide. Thankfully, they were sent quite soon to bed, Gobber telling them they needed to rest before tomorrow's lesson. Astrid felt like crying when she was in her bed, she didn't even know why.

 **O o O**

"Maybe we should go to Gothi?"

Stoick looked up at Goober from where he was sitting. The day after the prince's escape, he had gone all over the village, giving help and orders to fix the dragons' mess. To be honest, it wasn't worse than usual, the jail was the building which got the biggest damages. At noon, he just went to the smithy where Gobber was working. He didn't want to go to the Great Hall, he didn't want to be surrounded by many people. That's why he just sat in the forge, taking a short break.

"Why do you want to go to Gothi? She said what she had to."

"Yeah, but who knows, she might have other things to tell us."

Once again, Gobber was right, Stoick knew well that there were some things you couldn't tell before many people, which needed to be discussed privately.

"Why not? Everyone will take a break for noon, we might as well visit her."

"I hope she did prepare stew, I like the way she cook."

The chief smiled and when Gobber was done with the sword he was sharpening, they stood and crossed the village to go to the Elder's hut. They tapped at the door and simply heard _"Come in"_ , when they opened the door they saw the old woman preparing something in a cauldron which was almost her size.

"Take a sit."

Stoick and Gobber sat and let the shaman finish with whatever she was preparing, maybe it was some potion for healing, then it was important. The old woman looked at them and asked:

"Do you want some? It's stew."

Stoick smiled in amusement and refused politely, while Gobber accepted gladly. Gothi poured him a bowl and turned to Stoick.

"I know why you're tormented. It's that boy."

"Maybe they're right, maybe I should have killed him."

"That's the easy way, not necessarily the good way. What you did was good," Gothi declared.

"But now he is free again, he is with his dragons while we had him in our clutches!"

"Stoick, look in your heart, could you have killed a child, even a wild one?" Gobber asked after swallowing a spoon of stew.

He didn't answer anything but knew that no, he couldn't.

"I didn't become chief to kill kids. I wouldn't have minded giving this child another chance to become human again, even if it meant keeping him in the village. But he didn't make things easy, that little…"

"Stoick," she interrupted, "he is feral. He can't talk and he probably doesn't understand half of what's happening. Imagine what it is like to be an animal, to have humans capturing you and locking you up."

"He does understand he is stealing from us…"

"He learned from dragons, it's probably the reason why he does it. Children behave the way they are raised. But I don't think you're tormented because the dragon-child could be a threat."

A silence settled, Stoick felt where Gothi wanted to go and he didn't really like that. The old woman was waiting for him to speak, but as he wouldn't utter a word, Gobber did it for him.

"She is right on that," Gobber approved, "you never speak of Hiccup, only about avenging him."

"What is there to speak about? I knew him for barely two years, and then he was gone…"

It still hurt, even after all those years, the pain was still here, it was only duller and bearable. Before Gobber or Gothi could talk again, Stoick murmured:

"He was starting to speak quite well already…He was all clumsy and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been always easy to raise, but I would have managed. We had almost the same birthmark."

"I remember," Gothi whispered, "I saw it at his birth, you were prouder than any father I had ever seen."

"I remember too, it looked vaguely like a small boat on both your shoulders, it wasn't identical, but very similar."

"I liked it. Hiccup was small but the gods let me this mark to show me he would become a great chief like me. The Outcasts took my wife, but at least she died in a fight, fair and square, she had a chance. Hiccup didn't even have that, he could only cry while that monster…"

He stopped there, he wouldn't cry, no, but he couldn't continue, his heart was breaking each time his mind worked against his own wishes and let him picture his son getting devoured by the dragon. This image had tortured him all this time.

"You think that boy will give you access to your revenge, don't you?"

"If he can tell me where the nest is, then I'll finally massacre those monsters. I know what you already told me Gothi, this is not the only way to get over it, but it will be a start."

"Saving this boy from dragons by giving him his humanity back could be good for you as well. Revenge isn't the only way to repair injustice."

Stoick nodded, the shaman was a wise woman, and he knew he had to listen to her. Now he hoped he would be able to convince the village that the dragon-boy had to be tamed and not killed.

 **O o O**

Meanwhile in the village, some people were talking before the bread shop. Svala was taking a well-deserved break and joined the conversation of some clients who were talking about what happened last night. Everyone in the village was. She knew the people here very well, Mulch, Bucket, Sven and Olga, Astrid's mother.

"All those dragons around the prison it's still weird I think," Sven declared.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you believe there is magic in all that, really," Svala sighed.

"You have to admit it's not normal."

"Maybe Stoick is right, maybe they came like dogs. After all the kid save them all the time," Svala suggested.

"I don't know, I never heard of dragons acting like dogs," Sven said.

"To be fair, we never heard of dragons adopting children either," Mulch countered. "After all, I also doubt he can use magic. As Gobber said, it has to be learned, and as you said," he turned to Svala, "worse would have happened if he could."

"I hope they won't try again to get him back to the village, I don't want them to ask Astrid to teach him to talk again," Olga mumbled.

"I know it wasn't the best mission ever, but it could be useful indeed," Svala stated while putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You can't blame Olga, I wouldn't want my child near that beast either," Sven huffed

"Oh come on, it's just a child too," Bucket protested.

"Bucket! He bit you when you brought him food, remember?!"

"Only once, and it's a little my fault, he was huddled in a corner and I tried to approach him to see if he was okay, but I think I startled him…"

"You're too kind," Mulch sighed, "when I think he attacked such a big softie!"

"The thing is, I didn't try to comfort him when he cried," Bucket admitted.

"When did it happen?" Asked Olga.

"The day we captured him, Stoick asked me to give him food. I went in and I saw him crying in a corner. He had bruises and all, he looked just so…vulnerable, nothing like the devil we used to see. I didn't dare to go to him, I just gave him food and left, but it had me all worked up at night. I also noticed he would hardly eat anything I would give him, and that's why I went to check up on him when I saw him huddled in a corner again. But I startled him, I guess he got scared."

A silence followed Bucket's story, one or two people overheard it, and it seemed like it was interesting them. Olga sighed and turned to Svala.

"I know you're gonna say it's only a child, but I don't like to know my daughter could be near him, and be hurt as well."

"From what I know he didn't hurt her."

"For now"

"Come on," Svala said, "do you really want him to be killed? I don't, even if he deserves to be punished for what he did."

"And it's not as if your daughter couldn't defend herself! She is among the best warriors of her age!" Sven added.

But Olga wasn't really convinced, the situation wasn't easy for her. If only Stoick didn't give this mission to her girl! She would have easily sided with all the people who were defending Stoick and Gothi's point of view. She didn't want this feral kid to be killed, but if she had to choose between the safety of her daughter and his life, she wouldn't hesitate. Maybe a talk with her daughter would be due.

 **O o O**

Some days passed after the Prince's escape and Astrid was sitting alone, watching the dusk and the first stars appearing this evening. It was something she really enjoyed to do when she needed to take a little break and relax, to just watch the darkening sky alone, with no one to talk to her, no one to ask her what was wrong. Like everyone, there were times she didn't want to tell what was going on in her head and just be left alone. Yet recently to was hardly possible. She had chosen a spot on a cliff, not too far from the village but not too close. There almost no clouds in the sky, the sea was calm and the wind was blowing softly. She appreciated this, truly, nature's beauty had always got to her, but this evening even this beautiful view could hardly distract her from her thoughts, in fact it was maybe making those come into her mind stronger.

She was thinking of the dragon-boy. It was hard not to do so, the whole village had seen her protective behavior and a lot of people were still perplex about it, her parents mostly. Her mother tried to talk with her thrice, but she dodged it each time. She also avoided questions, Mildew asked her what was between her and the boy, but she just told him to leave her alone (and after that, she and the twins played some prank on him again in retaliation). Surprisingly enough, the twins were the only one who weren't asking many questions, they did at the beginning, but they soon understood that it was useless and weren't bothering her anymore with this. The chief also wasn't asking her anything, she didn't know if it was because he trusted her or because he had other preoccupations.

The strangest thing was that she actually needed to talk, the problem was she couldn't really tell what was going on in her head to anyone, even Ruffnutt. She trusted her friend, but she could be sloppy at times and even if Ruff didn't intend to betray her secret, she could do it accidentally. And even if she didn't, she wouldn't want to burden her friend with her thoughts. Suddenly, she got an idea. The girl stood and walked toward the woods.

The forest was quite enchanting in the end of the day, when soft rays of sun were piercing through the trees, projecting that gentle light of the evening everywhere by small touches. Astrid knew a spot near a small river where there was a owl's nest, and she had seen the owl in question, and she had observed it after training several times. Though at first, the animal was wary, it had started to get used to her and wouldn't fly away when she was around.

Astrid was here quickly and checked out no one was there, then she sat on a rock near the river and watched the tree to see the owl was here, fluttering his feather, he had probably slept all day.

"Hi…It's me again…" She said gently.

The beast just looked at her, not moving. She spoke gently, just in case and also in order not to spook the bird:

"I know you cannot understand what I say, but I needed to talk to someone and you might be the only one around…It's this boy, you know, the dragon's prince…At least that's how we call him, I don't think he even have a name."

She looked around to be sure no one was here again, the owl was still watching her, as if he was listening.

"The thing is, I'm somehow happy he escaped and disappointed too, but I'm not disappointed for the good reason. You know, other Vikings are angry because they won't find the nest thanks to him and all, but me…I'm disappointed because I won't get to spend more time with him or know him. I don't even really care for the nest right now. He was starting to say my name…I wish I got the time to teach him to speak, at least to have some answer…But I'm happy he is not locked anymore, I'm happy for him, but I don't feel happy at the same time because I might never see him again…And it's wrong somehow, because I shouldn't think like that as a Viking, I should do like the other and just try to find the nest…But I don't know. Maybe I'm different, more than I thought."

The owl was still looking at her, and she wondered if he could understand, not literally but maybe he felt that she wasn't alright. She smiled to him and sighed, feeling relieved for letting that out of her chest. Astrid listened to the sounds of the forest for a moment, the birds singing, the soft rustles of the leaves, the sound of the river…She didn't pay that much attention to things usually, but this evening, she felt more akin to do so. She eventually turned to the owl again.

"Thanks for listening; I can't speak with my tribe about all this. They would judge me and maybe even accuse me of being a traitor if I told them what I'm feeling right now. Not Ruff I think…Maybe Fishlegs would understand as well, he seemed to be…"

She heard a soft sound, as if someone was walking sneakily, she turned her head to look in the direction of the sound. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw at the other side of the river the dragons' prince standing there, watching her.

 **Yep, they meet again! About the owl thing…I don't know, I just like owls ^^ Review please!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Hi everybody! It's a quicker update than usual, but I was stuck home sick, and I had pretty much nothing to do, so I decided to put that time in good use. Enjoy!**

 **Important: keep in mind that every mistakes Hiccup makes when he speaks here are intentional, however if you spot mistakes in other places, tell me, English is not my mother tongue, so go ahead grammar nazis, just point out the mistakes I make precisely if possible.**

 **Even more important! : Dialogues is dragonese are in italics, but in flashbacks where the whole text is in italics, dragonese revert into normal writing to mark the difference.**

When she saw him standing there, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know if she should really believe her eyes, why would he be here, like this? He started to advance toward her slowly, his feet entering the water carefully. She glanced quickly behind her, toward the path leading to her village, thinking that she should warn them to come, but then she heard him say:

"No."

This simple word stunned her enough to stay; she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"No, not go."

"You…You can speak?"

"Yes, come."

She was baffled at this, hearing him talk seemed almost unnatural, especially after all the time she had seen him act like a beast. Did he really ask her to come? What did he want? He extended his hand toward her, as if he wanted to calm her down, tame her as if _she_ was the wild beast here. She felt torn apart, she knew what she should do, but she didn't want to. She thought suddenly of what Ruff told her the other day, about her having no imagination, about being too serious and having to let her mind open. She had been happy to follow her guts, and now her guts were telling her to follow that boy. Her curiosity was stronger and though she didn't take his hand, she walked toward him, she had her axe anyway, if he tried anything, she could kill him. They crossed the river together and he sat on a rock while she stood before him.

"How is it you speak?"

"I had a friend. Human, she teach me."

"Really? Who is it?"

"You not know. She dead."

He still had some work to do obviously, but considering that she thought he couldn't speak at all at first, she wasn't about to complain. She felt quite indignant when she remembered how she tried to teach the boy to speak, while he probably understood her perfectly.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I not want be tortured."

Astrid eyes widened a little: he faked to be mute because he feared them to torture him? It seemed like nonsense at first to her but when she thought about the stone someone threw at him, and the brutal way he was captured, she couldn't blame him. He approached and just like the time in prison, he brought his face closer to hers. She backed away again, and he seemed disappointed.

"What are doing?" Asked she.

"I…meet you."

"Meet me?"

"When encounter other, you rub your head."

She took a deep as she understood; now it was clear. Animals tended to sniff each other whenever they would meet, dogs and cat did that, sheep too. Apparently it was the same with dragons and this boy. The time in the prison was clearer now.

"That's not how human behave. We mostly say 'Hi' and we tell each other our name. So, hi, my name is Astrid, but you already know that."

"Hi…My name Hiccup."

Hiccup…It rang a bell in her mind, but she didn't know why. Where did she hear that name before? She might have known a Hiccup in the past, the name was often used for fragile babies. The boy went on, interrupting her thought.

"I…You healed me. Why?"

Funny, he was wondering pretty much the same thing as every villager did back then.

"Because I'm not a torturer, you're probably my age, I didn't want you to suffer."

"Then, why tie my hands?"

She understood he was speaking of the time he was captured in the forest. She felt a little ashamed.

"It was the orders. And it was either me or the man hitting you. I didn't want him to hit you more than he already did, so I tied you to be sure you wouldn't be hurt anymore."

He nodded and smiled to her, a grateful smile she wasn't expecting. She went on:

"We captured you because we want to know where the dragons' nest is. You and your dragons are causing us way too many damages, you steal our stocks and…If you could stop that, we wouldn't lose our time hunting you."

He lowered his head slightly, he knew this was a problem for humans, he knew they had a good reason to curse them.

"We not have the choice. We must."

"Can't you find other ways to feed yourself?"

He frowned at that. He was about to say something but then, they heard moves on the bushes, and they saw Toothless appear before them, Astrid, yelped and started to take hold of her axe, but Hiccup seized her hands, stopping her moves.

"No. No fear."

He then raised his hands toward his brother who was about to rush at the human. Toothless stopped before him and watched Astrid and Hiccup with a puzzled expression. The girl wanted to run away, but the dragon boy was standing in the only clear path, blocking her exit. She heard him growl softly to the dragon, who seemed to relax. Then he turned toward her.

"No fear, he my brother."

"Your brother?"

"Toothless his name."

"Oh…"

She wasn't feeling very reassured, but the beast wasn't attacking her, and she wasn't sure if she should take her axe or not; maybe it was not a good idea, the beast was calm for now. But for Thor's sake, she was a dragon killer or at least she was becoming one, and she was here, talking with a dragon boy while looking at a dragon without doing anything! It was the beast who shot the prison, she should be fighting. Yet…She saw the boy caressing the dragon and the animal leaning into his touch and she felt like the first time she saw them, before they got captured. She just saw two brothers, not enemies and attacking a family, well... The dragon looked at her less intensely.

"I never saw a Night Fury before this one."

"He not bad, he just…protect me."

"He _is_ not bad," she corrected.

"Oh…Yes."

She smiled to him, at his confusion.

"Are you sure he won't eat me?"

"Yes, here…"

He seized her hand gently, and she felt a strange slight dizziness at this feeling. He had callous hands, a little dirty, but she somehow liked the contact. He raised her hand toward the dragon's snout and she pulled away.

"No!"

"You told me, 'not be scared'. Now _I_ tell you, not be scared."

Astrid guessed he was talking about the first time she healed him, when she had told him she wouldn't hurt him. She thought over it, the dragon didn't seem about to attack her, if he wanted to eat her, he would already have, but she was scared nonetheless. Yet…The more she was looking at the boy who was extending his hand and at the dragon, the more her curiosity grow and she felt like she didn't want to back away. Something in her was telling her to do this. So she slowly gave Hiccup her hand, his smile grew bigger and he led her hand toward Toothless who sniffed it slowly.

Astrid had difficulty to stay still and wait, she was could envision the dragon suddenly shutting his jaw on her hand and devour it, but she tried to calm down. She was aViking, she wasn't scared. Plus, his brother had his hand over hers, and this beast wouldn't hurt his brother. The dragon looked at them one last time and eventually leaned against her skin, closing his eyes while doing so. Astrid tensed as she felt electricity at this contact. It was only scales but she still felt dizzy and amazed. She was touching a dragon…A live dragon who accepted to let her touch him…She couldn't help but let out a gasp and she smiled without thinking it.

She looked at the boy who was grinning as well as her. His hand was still over hers, putting no pressure. Toothless eventually recoiled slightly, before perching himself on a rock, observing the teens from there. He chose to trust her…This big beast who could have just attacked and killed her just choose to trust her…

"It's only because you're there, otherwise he would kill me…"

"No. I just help. He not kill for nothing. Only if you attack."

A silence passed between the two, only the sound of water could be heard. Now she felt as strange as the first time she looked in his eyes. She was touching something deep, she realized it somehow even if she couldn't have defined it or put a single word on those feelings, but she realized she was reaching something humans had slowly lost with the idea of civilization.

"What are you doing with them? The dragons I mean?"

"Astrid!"

Both Hiccup and Astrid jumped in surprise when they heard the voice in the woods: it was Ruffnutt. She heard Tuffnutt's voice as well, followed by Snotlout and Fishleg's. What the hell did they want?! They couldn't see Hiccup here! The feral boy started to back away, and she took his wrist gently.

"Wait, come find me here again tomorrow at the dusk."

"At what?"

"The dusk…When the sun goes down."

"Oh. Yes. I go now."

She nodded, he couldn't be seen by the other teens. He jumped on his brother's back and the dragon flew away swiftly, and she couldn't help but admire the strange grace the beast possessed. She looked at her hand again…That dragon let her touch him…She heard footsteps and her friends talking and she turned round to see them coming toward her.

"Astrid! We were looking for you," Fishlegs said.

"What is it you want?"

"Gobber wants us all to eat together, he has things to explain us apparently," Ruffnutt explained. "It will probably be boring but I don't think we can escape it."

"Alright."

She followed them silently, and Fishlegs noticed something seemed off.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes why?"

"You have a long face," Tuff stated, "Like when you don't want to speak."

"Maybe I don't want to speak much."

"Why is that?"

"I would tell you if I wished to speak, Tuff."

"This muttonhead isn't really comprehensive, I am however and…"

"In your dreams Snotlout!" Both Ruff and Astrid exclaimed in unison.

Astrid continued to walk with them, acting as she was listening to their conversation while in reality, she was only thinking of Hiccup. He came back, and it was for her. She was feeling like a bundle of nerves, this wild boy had come to meet her, and she would meet him again. She had so many questions, so many things to know!

On his side, Hiccup was feeling pretty much the same. He and Toothless were still in the woods of Berk, they saw a nice spot with a pond, not the one in which he got captured, but another one in which they could rest and fish a little.

" _I told you she wouldn't go to her village!_ " Hiccup exclaimed happily.

" _She was scared_ ," Toothless pointed out.

" _I's normal, she isn't used to dragons._ "

" _Okay, she seems nice. But if anything goes wrong, no second chance!_ "

Hiccup smiled and nuzzled his brother's head, he was grateful, he knew Toothless didn't want to go on Berk anymore. He thought again of the night when they escaped, he wasn't sure if it was a good memory or not.

: : : :

 _The three dragons and the boy landed on a mountain, at a spot they knew well, shielded from the winds by big rocks. Hiccup jumped from Thinpaws's back only to hug her fondly, then Toothless jumped on the two of them and Hiccup hugged him as well, cuddling together. The two dragons licked Hiccup's face, tickling him slightly, making him laugh. Calla watched them and remembered the night she took Hiccup, they did exactly the same thing back then and they had done it many times after, hearing Hiccup laugh had always made his siblings happy. She went to them and rubbed her face against Hiccup's. Her son smiled to her and nuzzled her snout._

"Mum…"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine."

"It was long since we last saw each other. When Toothless warned me, we searched for Thinpaws immediately."

"Thank you all, I hated that prison!"

"I'm sorry, I'll never let that happen again," _Toothless growled apologetically._

"You were hurt, it's not your fault."

 _The family settled themselves here, Hiccup taking woods for the fire which was put alight by Calla. He snuggled against Toothless after checking his wound and the two female came at their side, putting themselves around Hiccup to keep him warm._

"I'm glad this is over, we're never going back on this island again."

"Actually Toothless…I would like us to go back, maybe in some days."

 _All his family looked at Hiccup questioningly, and he sighed._

"You know…There was that human girl, she was kind to me. I would like to try and meet her."

"What?! Are you crazy?!"

"Toothless is right, Hiccup. You'll get captured again!" _Thinpaws added._

 _Hiccup blushed, looked down and rubbed his cheek. He didn't like when he blushed, dragons weren't supposed to blush. He turned to his mother who was looking at him thoughtfully and with a hint of sadness in her eyes._

"Children. You remember our human friend?"

"Yes, mother, but that doesn't mean this girl will…"

"Listen to me, Toothless. I brought us to her so Hiccup could interact with his own kind, because I knew this day would come. Your brother wouldn't always remain a cub. One day, he will have to find himself a mate."

"Mom! I don't want to become human, I'm fine as a dragon!"

"Yes, I know. But you have humanity in you. I brought you to the human friend so she could show you how to be human, not only because you had no scales and wings to survive like us, but also for the day you would need a mate. You can't forget you were born human."

 _Hiccup didn't say anything anymore and just curled into a tight ball. Toothless put his head on him comfortingly, yet Hiccup felt sad. Most of dragons didn't mind that he was born human, as long as he was one of them, and his family always loved him. Yet, they always had to do things differently for him, having skin instead of scales and no wings made things sometimes difficult. He always felt there was a difference between him and the dragon, and he always feared that one day this difference couldn't be ignored anymore. Hell, once a group of Night Furies who hated humans tried to kill him! He feared that the day he wouldn't be able to ignore this was about to come._

::::

Today, as he had met Astrid again, he felt this same worry, and he knew Toothless was worried as well. He did hesitate to come to her, fearing that meeting her again would stir the humanity in him he didn't really want. Yet he finally did, the temptation to see her was too strong.

" _Hiccup?_ "

" _Yes?_ "

" _If you really take her as your mate, what will we do? Where will we live?_ "

" _I'm not leaving you. I don't know, maybe we could live in the wild, in a hut like Millie, if she accepts. But…We're going too far! She is not my mate, I just want to be friends._ "

He didn't know what he wanted, honestly, but he was scared. Yet he had the feeling this had to be done, he wanted to know more about Astrid, and she seemed to want the same.

The next day, he waited as they agreed, at the same spot where they met. He was hiding along with Toothless, in case other humans came. He eventually sighted her coming, alone. Toothless sniffed the air but relaxed as he concluded there was no one but the girl. Hiccup smiled, she wasn't trying to trap him. He went out of the bushes, walking on his four and she turned toward him, standing at the other side of the river like yesterday, but this time she crossed it with no hesitation, she was just eying Toothless cautiously. He stood up to be at her level.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi Astrid, happy you here."

"It's: I am happy you are here," she corrected again, "seems like I might have to really teach you how to talk."

He blushed and she smiled teasingly, the tension she was feeling eased, she usually didn't like people who were picky about phrasing and grammar but it was somehow her little revenge for him fooling her into giving him an useless lesson in which she struggled for nothing to have him pronounce her name. She felt tense again when the dragon approached her, sniffing her. Though she did touch him yesterday, she was still tense. Hiccup went to her and grabbed her hand again to put it on Toothless's snout. He took his hand away slowly, and Astrid felt daring enough to pet the dragon slightly. The animal's eyes grew softer, he obviously enjoyed that. She smiled awkwardly before retreating her hand.

"Maybe he'll like me."

"Yes. He…He is your friend," he uttered while carefully remembering to use the verb.

"Dragons and Vikings aren't supposed to be friends."

"Why?"

"Well…It's just not the way it is, dragons burn our village and steal our food. How did you end up with them? You aren't a dragon."

He bit his lip, being reminded again of that wasn't easy. He jumped on a big rock to perch on it, his agility made Astrid think of some big lizard. She climbed too, and went at his side, they were joined by Toothless who remained on the ground, tall enough to be at their level.

"I am dragon. My mother…She…" He searched for his words. "When I a cub, mother dragon save me."

"When you were a baby, you mean. We call human cubs babies. So, this dragon mother was you brother's mother I guess?"

"Yes, I…Were in a fire…" he said hesitantly.

"It's: I was in a fire. You were, I was."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay, I'll teach you to speak if you want. So you were in a fire as a baby and hum…" she struggled to remember the dragon's name. "Toothless's mother saved you."

"Yes!"

"But then she just kept you?"

He nodded, Astrid was still baffled that a dragon would keep a baby and not devour it, even if pretty much everyone acknowledged it was what probably happened when they saw the boy was no monster but just a boy. This situation was baffling, she would have never thought that one day she would be in the forest, with a feral boy who was thinking of himself as a dragon, sitting with him while keeping him a secret from the rest of the village and proposing to teach him to speak! She usually wasn't that generous, especially toward strangers. Yet she felt invested toward Hiccup.

"I never thought…By the way, tell me if you can't understand me."

"I understand…more than speak. What is this?"

Astrid saw he pointed toward her axe.

"You already saw some of those, didn't you?"

"I not know the name."

"You don't know the name," she corrected again, "and it's an axe."

"Millie only used sword."

"Millie?"

He started to explain her who Millie was, and Astrid continued to correct him, even if she didn't feel the need to take revenge anymore.

"The day before, you…were talking?" Asked Hiccup

"What?"

"When I came to see you, you were talking."

"Oh, yes…Did you hear what I said?"

"I hear you talk of Fishlegs. No more. But to who you were talking?"

She felt relieved at this, one thing which had her concerned was the idea that he could have heard everything she said.

"I was talking to the owl. He is somehow my friend."

"You have a friend owl?" He asked in an excited tone.

"He doesn't really approach me, but he doesn't fly away either. I would often come near the river to train with my axe alone, and I would see him. I liked to watch him after training, and with time he understood I wasn't an enemy."

"Why train alone?"

"Sometimes, I like to be alone. In the village, it's sometimes difficult to be alone. You wake in your house with your family, you eat with the rest of the village in the Great Hall, you train with other people, and you often work with other people. Not that it's completely impossible to be alone in the village, just difficult, it's easier here."

"You never really alone in forest."

"You are never really alone in the forest," she corrected. "What do you mean by that?"

"You are never really alone in the forest. When you look well, always animals around. What's a…Greet Hall?"

"Great Hall? It's a big building in which we all meet, when we eat together, or when the village reunites to take decisions."

He continued to ask questions about the village and she continued to ask questions about the way he lived. At a point, Toothless put his head next to her lap, and though at first she was a little hesitant, she ended up petting him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Both of them ignored they felt the same way: happier than ever and in a very new way.

 **Secret friendship: started! I hope you liked it, don't hesitate to review!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Hi everybody! I finally can update this chapter, my computer just abandoned me and sadly everything I wrote is in it! Thankfully they could repair it without loosing my files, but it took ten days to have it back. I can't even tell how glad I was for getting everything I wrote back! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, more bonding between Astrid, Toothless and Hiccup on the way!**

A week after Hiccup and Astrid's encounter, life in the village was back to normal. People still discussed about what happened but with less ardour, some dragons attacked, but the Prince wasn't seen anymore, most of people thought he feared to be caught again, but a certain someone in the village knew more than the rest of them.

Astrid was preparing herself to go to the woods after the dragon training. She had her axe but she would go home to fetch some food, she was hungry, she didn't eat much at noon. A loaf of bread was on the table, she took some of it and wrapped it in a cloth when her mother entered the room. The young girl prayed her mom wouldn't stop her from leaving. Recently, Olga had felt Astrid was being upset by something, and though she wasn't about to find out the girl's secret, her questions weren't always easy to handle. She even asked her daughter if she was in love and Astrid told her that no boy in the village interested her, which wasn't a lie. Her prayers went unanswered, as her mother stood between her and the door.

"Ah, I was looking for you. What are you doing?"

"I'm going in the woods to train."

"Really?"

Astrid felt her guts tighten at this; Odin help her if her mother was suspecting something. Olga sat on a chair and looked at her daughter.

"I know there is something troubling you, and I know you probably don't want to tell me because at your age I didn't want to talk to my parents either."

"Mom, I just…"

"Listen to me, you know you can tell me everything, right?"

Though Astrid nodded, she perfectly knew she couldn't tell her mother what was happening.

"You're changing, I know it, and I know you want to be independent, but that doesn't mean you have to keep everything for yourself, especially if something is troubling you."

"Mom, I'm fine! Look, if there is something wrong, I'll tell you, but right now I just want to be alone at times, there is nothing wrong with that!"

"No, but I feel there is more to that."

At first Astrid was about to say that it was none of her concern, but she realized her mother would just come back full-force and wouldn't drop the subject so easily. So she decided to tell her a part of the truth, just not the one which her mother could have disapproved. This way she might leave her alone.

"Okay…It's just a secret but nothing big."

"What?"

"…I have some kind of friend."

"A friend? What kind of friend?"

"Nothing big, mom, it's just an owl."

At this, Olga's eyes widened slightly in surprise when she heard this. Astrid felt discomfort, yes she wasn't completely lying but omittig a big part of the truth like she did wasn't exactly honest either.

"I don't want the other to know, they might scare him or even hurt him. It's an owl I started to tame in the forest, I know where his nest is and he is getting used to me a little."

"Is that why you were making so much mystery? Some beast you tamed in the forest?"

Astrid was aware it seemed stupid, she sounded like a child hiding a secret pet, but at least her mom seemed to believe her, Olga was surprised but she didn't seem suspicious anymore.

"I liked to keep it a secret," she explained with reproaches in her voice.

Olga felt relieved but also bad, teenagers liked to have their little secrets just for the thrill of it, and she guessed Astrid was probably upset right now because she had to reveal it. As a teenager herself she liked to hide little things to her parents and she hated when one of them invaded her privacy. Still, she didn't show her daughter she was feeling bad, she didn't want Astrid to feel like she was allowed to hide from her parents.

"Okay…It's not bad but try not to be secretive about silly things. But I'll keep your secret if you want."

Astrid nodded and left the house quickly, forgetting her bread in the process. Her mother was relieved to know it was nothing bad. Yet, even after hearing explanation, she still had some doubts. Olga tried to push those away, she wanted to trust her girl.

To be honest, Astrid felt bad about lying to her mom like this, it wasn't the first time in her life she would tell a lie, but usually it was harmless small lies, like pretending she didn't play tricks with the twins. Yet now it was something really important, if it was discovered, she would be called a traitor, not only she was befriending a wild boy but his dragon as well. This was even a better reason not to talk about it to her mom, she knew that, but she still felt guilty. The other teens and Ruff in particular wondered why she didn't hang around with them as much as before, but with them she didn't take gloves and simply told them it was her business. Snotlout tried to insist but Astrid only had to tighten he hand in a fist and raise it in the air to make him stop. If it had been Fishlegs or Ruff asking she wouldn't have been harsh but she knew Snotface was trying to be nice to hit on her and one thing was sure: she wasn't for him.

Astrid walked through the woods to Raven Point, that was where she, Toothless and Hiccup would meet now, that place was farer from the village, even if she liked the spot where the owl's nest was, it was more cautious. They would speak of many things, she liked to hear him talk about the places he had seen while travelling on a dragons' backs, she hadn't travelled much, only once or twice and in nearby places only and she liked to imagine faraway lands. She also started to like playing with Toothless, the dragon could be surprisingly gentle considering his size and weight. She had been really surprised to know that dragons had some kind of languages of their own, Hiccup would traduce her what he would say often, and it always felt strange.

She didn't ask Hiccup again why dragons were attacking humans, after all she knew the answer already: they were feeding themselves and that was all. Astrid didn't want to bring in that touchy subject now that their friendship was just starting. It wasn't usual for her, normally she would say what she wanted directly and when she wanted to ask a question she would do it frankly, not bothering to put gloves. However with Hiccup she was aware she had to act differently, he was after all feral and she knew she wasn't only forming a forbidden and fragile friendship but also taming a wild beast; that kind of things took patience and delicacy.

She was about to reach Raven Point when she heard noises in the bushes, something big was moving...Out of reflex, she took her axe, when she suddenly saw a rabbit jumping out of some bushes, followed immediately by a scrawny but swift creature who jumped on its prey: Hiccup! Astrid watched agape as the dragon-boy pinned the big rabbit down before biting the top of its prey's head ferociously with a loud growl. The boy's claws gripped the rabbit's fur viciously, and while he held the rest of his prey's body in place with his hands and his head with his jaw, the feral boy shook his head hard to snap the rabbit's neck and kill it. The prey went completely slack. Hiccup's hands released the fur, only holding the smaller animal with his jaw. He finally noticed Astrid and snapped his head at her, making the rabbit's body shake.

Instead of standing up, he advanced toward her on his four like an animal, his kill still in his jaw and Astrid couldn't help but be shocked. Yes she knew he was wild, yes she had seen him eat, but she had never seen him hunt and kill something like this! He didn't stand when he was before her but dropped the rabbit at her feet and she couldn't help but think of a predator bringing back a kill for his female. She pushed that thought away because it was making her feel weird. Hiccup jumped slightly and spinned round in delight. Astrid crouched down and before she could tell him anything, he rubbed his cheek against hers, something which made her blush and recoil slightly. It wasn't the first time he would do that and while she didn't dislike it, she was also feeling awkward.

"Hiccup...I told you it's not something humans do."

"Come on! I got the meal!"

"That's nice, but we are eating it cooked, not raw."

Hiccup shrugged, he would sometimes eat his food roasted in the fire, as long as Astrid woudn't add that strange thing she called sauce on it, he was fine. He was about to pick up the rabbit from the floor with his jaw but Astrid took the rabbit in her hands.

"You have hands you know."

"I don't want to stand."

They started to walk, or at least Astrid started to walk, while Hiccup crawled on his four, and she had to admit he had some cat-like gracefulness. It was funny because he could be clumsy at times, but when it came to wander through woods, he was clearly at ease.

"I guess I can't stop you from crawling like an animal. Don't count on me to do the same however."

"It's better!"

"Yeah, I imagine that if you have been raised by fire-breathing lizards going through thick bushes head first is a concept of fun."

"Better than throwing a ball around."

Astrid remembered the day she tried to show Hiccup how to play with a ball, but the boy had found that quite pointless and in the end Toothless had been the one playing with the toy like a big cat.

"It can be very funny if you try."

"Your fun is not fun," Hiccup simply said with a teasing smile.

"I'm gonna have fun throwing my axe at you if you start taunting me!"

"Taunting?"

He stopped and turned toward her.

"Yeah, it's when you say something to anger or irritate someone."

"I don't want to anger you! Just laughing..." He promptly corrected himself: "I mean I'm just laughing."

She had to admit he was getting better at talking, yet he was still lacking a good range of vocabulary.

"Okay, but in case you decide to do so one day, you're fairly warned."

"You couldn't touch me anyway, I'm too fast for you!"

"Oh yeah?! You're a little too sure of yourself, dragon-boy! Let's see if you hold up to that!"

They both started to run, Astrid on her feet and Hiccup still on her four, and though Hiccup was indeed fast, Astrid wasn't the best trainee of her village for nothing, she jumped obstacles like a doe, and ran like a hare. Hiccup almost looked like a young wolf, springing through the bushes. She jumped the rocks and ran through the small path which led toward the cove where Toothless was resting on his back, allowing his belly to warm up in the sun. He was startled when he heard the noises but relaxed when he saw it was Astrid and his brother. Hiccup was tailing her closely but the girl sprinted like crazy toward the dragon and was at his level before Hiccup.

"I win!"

"Okay, well maybe I should be prudent," he admitted.

A little satisfied smile appeared on her lips, and she petted Toothless who leaned against her hand. He emitted a small growl.

"He says 'hello'."

"Hello Toothless."

The dragon titled his head at her. Though he had been skeptic at firs tbaout this human, he was really liking her, she still had to learn but she was nice to both him and Hiccup. Maybe she would be his little human as well one day. But for that, she had to take an important step. He showed her his back and Hiccup smiled at her before explaining:

"You can fly with me on his back. He is okay."

Her eyes widened and she just shook her head, she couldn't do that, it was crazy! Flying on a dragon's back? No way! Yet when she was looking at the beast, her curiosity and sense of adventure begged to accept. No, she was a Viking, not a wilding.

"I'm sorry Hiccup, but I can't do that. Humans belong on the ground."

He shrugged and didn't insist. So instead of flying, the three of them played together, the two teens trying to tackle down Toothless who playfully pushed them away before teasing them by jumping around, as if he was yelling: 'come on, get me!'. Once they were fed up failing and hearing Toothless emitt some kind of dragonish laugh at them, the teenagers went to swim together and the dragon soon plunged after them, chasing them playfully in the water. The water was fresh and they both kept their clothes to swim, Astrid didn't dare to strip in her undergarments. Once they were tired, Hiccup and Astrid eat the rabbit. Astrid cursed when she saw she forgot her bread back home, but it was okay, the prey Hiccup got was big enough. Toothless preferred his fishes however. Their clothes were dried by both the fire and the dragon who breathed a warm air at them to dry them. She was almost sad when she went home, the village suddenly seemed boring to her.

All night, the girl thought of the possibility she had to fly on Toothless's back. Should she accept? She had to remain Viking-like...But honestly, she wasn't being Viking-like when she would go playing with the dragon boy and his Night Fury brother, so while she was at it...And she couldn't help but feel really touched that Toothless proposed her to do that by himself. She didn't have to ask or try to force him by breaking his will like some people would do with wild horses. No, this dragon, a wild beast who could perfectly fly away or devour her, trusted her enough to let her go on his back...She felt strangely dizzy and troubled, like the first time she saw Hiccup's eyes.

The next day when she meet them after dragon training, he proposed her again, and she refused just like yesterday, but this time, Hiccup and Toothless insisted.

"Come on, trust me."

Astrid looked at the dragon's back, and felt really tempted, she wasn't supposed to fly in the air, humans belonged on the ground but…She had thought about it all night: flying away in the sky! Ruffnut''s voice echoed in her head, she remembered when the girl had asked: what would it be like to fly? She had wondered all night and she could know if she wanted…Her guts were telling her to accept.

' _What's the point of being human-like when I befriend dragons anyway_?'

The girl nodded and Hiccup smiled delightfully, he sat on his brother's back and gestured her to sit behind him. She was trembling (she would have never admitted it aloud but she was) but she sat on Toothless's back and put her arms around Hiccup's chest tightly. The dragon extended his wings and got off the ground, and Astrid felt at the same time amazed and scared when she saw the ground starting to grow distant. It seemed like her stomach was tightening, and she felt shivers everywhere in her body, she was in the air!

"Oh Thor!"

Even though Toothless wasn't flying too fast, it was the most intense thing she ever did. She gripped Hiccup tighter as they reached the top of the trees and started to go high in the air. In spite of her fear, Astrid shivered in delight and looked everywhere, she could see everything: the sea, the forest, the island, and even her village from afar. She could hardly breathe as this was simply breath-taking! The wind was blowing strongly, making things even more intense.

"You like it?"

Hiccup's question was only answered by a marvelled gasp. She was in the sky! She would have never dreamed of having such a view of things! She had seen almost every part of her island, she knew it by heart, but right now, she was seeing it in a way she never did! This was so new and fantastic! Her world had suddenly gotten way bigger!

"It's so great! It's fantastic!"

Hiccup smiled hugely at her joy. He felt strangely dizzy looking at her, to think he was the one making her happy...He caressed Toothless who rose a little to reach the clouds. Astrid's arms released Hiccup and she started to graze the clouds above her, the dragon boy imitated her and they smiled to each other, needing no words to communicate right now. The young girl was just entranced, it was as if she just reached Valhalla, she was among the clouds, touching those!

She raised her arms and abandoned herself in the wonderful sensation which was given to her, in this immensity which she never thought she would explore. She saw the sunset from above, they were still in the clouds when they were starting to take different colours, and they continued to fly, they grazed the sea, they passed above the forest again, above the village while the night was giving them enough cover.

They went up in the sky again, and the stars were still so far away, making her realize how endless the sky really was. Northern lights started to appear, and she watched in awe, the wonders of the sky ungraspable and yet so close. When they started to fly down, she put her arms around Hiccup again, and rested her head against his shoulder. She couldn't say how thankful she was right now for seeing this, to both boy and dragon.

She was even more fascinated by this wild child, the sky and the clouds were his home, he had rode in it so many times, while it was all new to her! When they went back at Raven Point, she felt drunk from the sensation she got, and as she got down she was almost disappointed to be on the ground again. She turned to Toothless and for the first time, she hugged him, her arms going around his big neck. Though the dragon was taken by surprise, he didn't pull away, and rubbed his chin against her skull.

"Thank you."

The dragon only hummed slightly, Astrid was pretty sure he wanted to tell her he was happy to see her so elated, and she was right. Toothless didn't regret giving her his trust.

"You liked it," Hiccup stated with a warm grin.

"More than that. It's amazing!" She exclaimed while letting go of the dragon.

"I can take you to fly again, not now but later."

She nodded, her face beaming and he felt a little light-headed at the sight of her like this. They stared at each other for a short moment before she turned away, feeling uncomfortable with what was building up inside her.

"I have to go home, my parents can't know I was…With you."

"Yes. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Alright. It's...I already said it but I loved it, it was all so amazing..."

He smiled and nodded. They looked at each other in the eyes again, and instinctively both of them knew something had to happen. Hiccup didn't really know what should happen exactly, Astrid did however. She approached Hiccup, her heart was beating strongly but if she had been brave enough to fly on a dragon's back, she could be brave enough to do this. She took his hands in hers and drew him closer…

"Astrid?!"

They both jumped in surprise and Astrid froze when she saw none other than her friend Ruffnutt standing there, agape. What the hell was she doing here?! Though it was night, the moon was full and Ruffnutt could perfectly see both boy and dragon with her friend at the border of the pond. Toothless who was until now watching the two nonchanantly straightened his stance, ready to act, and Hiccup let go of Astrid's hands and prepared himself as well. Astrid ran toward her, and more out of confusion than anything, Ruff took some steps back, started to turn round to leave but Toothless swiftly lunged forward and threw himself before her, blocking her escape and making her yelp in surprise. Hiccup and Astrid were at her level soon enough, and Astrid took her friend's arm while the boy growled threateningly, showing her she shouldn't mess around. Ruffnutt was freaked out, she had seen what both of them were able to do and she didn't want to be their next victim.

"Get away, you..."

"Ruff! Stop! Don't worry, they are…They are friends," Astrid hurriedly

"But Astrid! It's that guy and his Night Fury!"

"I know, Ruff, please, just let me explain you."

Maybe it was because of the growls both Hiccup and Toothless emitted or because of Astrid's soft tone, but Ruffutt accepted to sit down without protesting, always keeping a wary eye on both dragon and feral boy while the whole tale was explained to her.

 **Some people just don't have the right timing! At least Astrid had her first flight, now let's see what Ruffnutt will do.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Hi! This chapter is a little longer than usual, and I must say I like this one a lot. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as me, I wish you all a Happy New Year!**

 **Enjoy!**

It was starting to be late and the village had noticed Astrid and Ruffnutt were missing, though the girls were independent, they were still a little too young to wander too late at night. Their parents were starting to search for them, helped by Tuffnutt who was worrying deep inside for his sister (even though he wouldn't have admitted it), and also by some neighbours and Stoick. They all prayed they hadn't been devoured by dragons or other wild beasts. None of them had any idea of what was happening right now while they were searching for the girls.

"So he is actually able to talk, and you're like…Secret friends?"

Astrid nodded at Ruff's question, not really daring to look at her because she knew her friend was probably feeling betrayed.

"And you didn't tell me? I thought we…"

"Ruff, you're my best friend, but I couldn't tell you that, I didn't want to burden you with this. Think, now that you know it, will you really tell your brother?"

She opened her mouth but then closed it. Indeed, she wasn't sure if she should tell Tuff, how would he react? The pettiest and meanest part of her wanted to denounce Astrid, but Ruff wasn't really bad inside, and she knew she wouldn't be able to do it, even if she was angry.

"It's not the same, my brother is an idiot."

"I swear it wasn't easy hiding this from everyone."

"I not wanted her to tell," Hiccup said. "I did not want to be capture."

Ruffnutt frowned, weirded out by the way he talked. Astrid explained her Hiccup could speak indeed, but not that well, he still had much to learn. Ruff looked at the feral boy, and though she was still scared by his brother who was watching her with attention, she approached him, ready to speak her mind.

"Listen well: maybe I kind of like you because you know how to fight, and riding dragons and all is pretty cool. And in addition to that you bit Snotlout which is a good point for you. But that doesn't mean you can come here and put yourself between me and my friends!"

"I…not want…Don't want that."

Astrid smiled proudly to him for correcting himself and put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"All that matter is that now you know, Ruff. And I guarantee you, those two have a lot to show us."

"Hum…Well, it'd rather be worth it, if you want me to be silent."

Though Hiccup was being dubitative, Astrid knew perfectly it meant her friend was in with them. To confirm that, Ruff bent her elbow and raised her hand for Astrid; the girl took it and squeezed it. She extended her hand to Hiccup and the boy hesitantly reproduced the same gesture not totally understanding it, but Astrid seemed satisfied so it was certainly positive, he smiled and instead of letting go of Ruff's hand he kept his hold on it and started to lead her toward Toothless.

"Hey, no!"

She took her hand away, but Astrid reassured her:

"Don't worry, I wasn't sure at first too, but he is nice. I flew on his back."

"You're serious?"

"When I told you they have a lot to show us."

This left Ruffnutt speechless, she who dreamed to fly on a dragon's back one day couldn't believe Astrid experienced that. Hiccup took hold of Ruff's hand again and led it toward Toothless once more but this time the girl didn't take it away. Toothles wasn't really sure about that girl, but Astrid and Hiccup seemed to trust her and maybe he could give it a try. He leaned toward her hand and sniffed it, she was scared but she was also excited, it was obvious. He gave a slight nudge to her hand but didn't lean toward it. He backed away.

" _I'll give it a try, but not right now,_ " Toothless explained.

" _Okay._ "

He explained Ruff and Astrid that Toothless was okay to give the new girl a chance.

"He accepted me more quickly."

"That because I told him you healed me and feed me. Ruff he don't know," he explained. "Why were you here?"

"Oh I wanted to find Astrid, I was really wondering what she was doing alone in the woods."

Astrid was about to say something when Toothless's eyes suddenly widened and he shrieked at Hiccup. The feral boy tensed and turned to the nex-comer:

"Humans! You brought humans?!"

"What? No I came alone!" Ruff replied, quite baffled

But Hiccup jumped on Toothless's back; the two flew away in no time and as they were starting to grow smaller in the distance, they heard voices not far away:

"Astrid, Ruffnutt!"

"Shit, our parents!"

"Ruff, you swear me you didn't bring them?"

"Of course I didn't, since when do I put the parents in the middle of our business?"

It was true that no one was keeping away from the adults as much as the twins. No, Ruff would have preferred to confront Toothless with her bare hands rather than tell her parents or any other adults what she wanted to do.

"Okay, well let's go to them before things get worse."

The two girls called their parents and were soon scolded for going out by themselves in the forest so late. They were surprised to see that not only their parents but Tuffnutt, some neighbours and even Stoick were there. They pretended they had to run away and hide from some wild boars.

"They were cornering us, we had to hide in trees," Ruff said dramatically.

"Yeah, they waited for a long time before something else distracted them."

"You seriously say that some big hairy pigs made you run away?" Tuff asked in suspicion.

"Well, next time Tuff you'll fight against a bunch of wild boars and we will see how you hold on," Astrid snarled.

"That kind of things can happen," the twins's mother said, "but next time girls, try to be careful."

"Promise," they replied in unison.

Thankfully the adults believed them and they all went back to the village to dine in the Great Hall. Astrid could see Ruff was thoughtful and very discretely she put a finger on her lips to let her know she had to shut up. The girl answered with a quick wink and Astrid was reassured. They both went back home and Ruffnutt was feeling excited over what happened, not only she discovered Astrid was way crazier than she ever thought, but she meet that Dragon's Prince and even touched a Night Fury! Okay the beast only slightly brushed her hand and for a very brief moment, still there had been a contact and she couldn't believe it.

She was soon cut out of her reverie by Tuffnutt:

"Hey, you know I don't believe you right?"

"What do you want, you idiot?"

"What were you doing? Astrid is weird and you're getting weird too, I know, I'm your twin brother!"

"Of course you do, because when I'm weird, you're weird, and when you're hurt, I'm hurt!"

"Really? If I hit myself you'll get hurt too?"

"Yes!"

Tuff didn't remember but she already tricked him like that when they were kids and Ruff watched in delight and acted as if she was hurt until Tuff actually fell on the ground. She left him there and went to bed, happy that she wouldn't have to put up with his questions for the rest of the evening. Yet when she thought about it, her brother would ask questions again and she wasn't sure she would be able to hide from him for long. She would have to talk to Astrid about it, her friend was smarter than her, maybe she would know what to do.

The next day, the girl left dragon training together, telling the boys to leave them alone when they tried to follow them. Once they were sure no one would hear them, the two started to talk freely.

"How is it to fly, Astrid?"

"It's great, I swear you I could see everything from above and I touched clouds! Those feels like water on your skin!"

"Wasn't it scary?!"

"No, it was too incredible for that. But I don't think he'll let you fly on his back today, it took time for him to propose me."

When they reached Raven Point, Hiccup showed up but kept his distances, he was crouching down, his arms tense, as if he was ready to suddenly attack. Only Astrid approached, feeling he was wary.

"What's wrong?"

"Is there humans again?"

"No, I'll explain you."

She told him how the adults simply noticed their absence and searched for them, Ruffnutt never brougth them.

"Trust me, she is okay."

Hiccup didn't protest and Astrid called Ruffnutt.

"Remember, he is feral."

"I know, it would be hard to miss it."

Indeed, with his ragged clothes, the dirt on his hands, face and bare feet, and his stance which made him look like a wolf ready to attack, it was clear that this boy wasn't casual. Hiccup observed Ruffnutt closely and looked around nervously, as if he wanted to be sure no one was around. He sniffed her a little and grimaced slightly.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?"

Astrid just shrugged, not willing to tell her friend that her sense of cleanness could be lacking at times. Hiccup relaxed and howled, as soon as he did that, Toothless jumped out of some bushes and joined the little group.

"Were you really that wary?" Astrid asked.

"Not of you, of her."

"She is my friend, she is fine."

Toothless approached the two girls and though he let Astrid pet him gladly, he kept a defiant eye on Ruffnutt.

"Easy Toothless," Astrid murmured. "She is a friend."

Astrid took Ruffnutt's hand and this time, after a good inspection, Toothless accepted to lean against her hand. The way Ruffnutt's breath hitched and the light in her eyes was enough to tell she was sweeped away by what she was experiencing and maybe it was what made Hiccup feel less wary of her. As for Astrid, she had rarely seen her friend like this. When Toothless and her broke the contact, the girl looked at her hand in amazment.

"Wow! I never thought something like that would happen."

"Yeah, I felt quite the same."

"And it's your brother?" Asked she to Hiccup

"Yes. I stay with him after we leave my mother."

"Left," Astrid corrected.

"Left, sorry."

"Ah come on Astrid, we aren't here for a grammar lesson! Come, let's do something funnier!"

And that's how Ruffnutt started to teach Hiccup one of her famous tricks, like how to properly put mess into a wildboars' herd by throwing pine cones at them while hiding in the bushes.

"It's not just about throwing things, "she said in an expert tone, "it's also about throwing those at the right moments and at the right ones!"

The three of them did so until the whole herd was fighting against one another, and Hiccup had to admit the human was funny. Once they were done, he decided it was his turn and showed them how to properly catch birds, Toothless was particulary eager to participate at that game, although he and Hiccup were deceived each time the girls stopped him from eating the birds they would catch. The feral boys didn't understand why the girls would try to catch a bird, and only admire it for a minute before releasing it. He wouldn't eat all the birds he succeeded to catch, but he wouldn't loose time admiring them either. Then Astrid proposed to teach Hiccup a game she and Ruffnutt liked.

"One of us stand on the rock above the water to play the target, and the other two throws pine cones to touch the target. The target has to avoid those without falling in the water. If you get touched or fall, you loose and someone else takes your place."

"We have to throw pine cones, but we often sent pretty nasty things to the boys, isn't it Astrid?"

"Oh yes," she admitted, remembering how Ruffnutt threw some stones at her brother and how she had thrown mud at Snotlout.

"You will do that to me?" Asked Hiccup worriedly.

"Nah, but that's really because you're new to it."

Astrid was the first to play the target, and Ruff and Hiccup couldn't make her fall or touch her. Eventually Toothless tried to imitate them, and used his jaw to send a big piece of wood in Astrid's direction. The girl had no choice but plunge in the water to avoid it.

"Winner is Toothless," Hiccup proclaimed while Ruff was bent in half, laughing hard.

"Your turn now, and I won't miss you!" Astrid declared in a challenging tone.

One they grew tired of this, they played wrestling against Toothless who proved he was still the strongest even if they were three instead of two. The girls eventually went back home early, to avoid being searched like yesterday. The next few days passed like this, the girls would meet Hiccup in the woods, and though they still preferred Astrid, he and Toothless were growing fond of Ruffnutt. Yet Astrid could see something was wrong with her.

"I'm feeling bad," she confessed at a time when they were alone. "I don't like to hide that from Tuff."

"I know, but we have to keep that a secret."

"But if Hiccup accepted? Maybe we could talk to him about it?"

"I can try tomorrow. But I don't want to rush things, if we introduce to many people to him...He only had one human friend before us, two is a record for him."

"Okay...Maybe I could spend the evening with my brother tomorrow. So he won't have suspicions and...Well, not be alone. I won't tell him anything, don't worry."

Astrid nodded, she unsderstood Ruff was torn apart between loyalty toward her brother, and loyalty toward she and Hiccup. It was normal for her to wish to spend some time with Tuffnutt. The next day, when she meet Hiccup again, he wondered where Ruffnutt was.

"She is with her brother, she didn't spend much time with him recently. She would like to tell him about us."

"No."

"I told her we should wait. Once you'll feel more comfortable around her."

Hiccup hesitated. He trusted Astrid now, he liked Ruffnutt but he didn't know her enough, and more importantly he didn't want to behave too humanly. He still thought about what his mother said about him having to accept his human side and he didn't know if he really wanted that. He pushed those thoughts away, he had other things to think of. There was something he needed to tell her and he wasn't sure how she would react. She felt something was wrong with him.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I will have to help the dragons soon. In your village."

Astrid's breath stopped for a short moment as she was brought back to the sad reality: Hiccup was still an enemy of the village.

"Hiccup..."

"There is no other way. We went in other villages, Toothless and I but...It had to happen again one day."

"Why? Really Hiccup, can't dragons find another way to feed themselves? I know winter is harsh but do dragons really have to eat our food? You and Toothless seems fine hunting in the sea or the forest."

At this Hiccup frowned and looked at her in confusion.

"We eat other thing. It's not for us, it's for Red Death."

"What? What is that?"

Hiccup was taken aback, didn't she know?

"Red Death, the giant dragon. Don't you know?"

"What giant dragon?"

"The one who eat us if we don't feed her."

Astrid blinked several times in disbelief, what was he talking about?

"Wait, there is a giant dragon, and she will eat you if you don't give her food?"

"Yes. Don't humans know?"

"No."

Toothless asked what was wrong and Hiccup explained him. He immediately showed his back to Astrid who felt excited in spite of her confusion. Since Ruffnutt had been coming to meet Hiccup with her, she didn't mount Toothless again, because she didn't want her friend to feel like she was left behind. But now that Ruffnutt wasn't here, she felt free to do so. She sat behind Hiccup, and the dragon flew away as the sun was starting to go down. The girl felt thrilled again as they started rising in the air and Toothless did some gentle spin to entertain his brother and their friend. She was even more excited but also nervous when they started to go far from berk, farer than she had ever went. And she knew they were going toward what they called Helheim's gate, the wild part of the sea where the dragons lived but could hardly be sailed by humans.

"Hiccup, are we going to the nest?"

"Yes, I'll show you Red death, but you must be silence. Each time she see me she try to eat me."

Astrid didn't bother to correct him as she was feeling her heart thump loudly against her ribcage. She was going to see the nest so many Vikings tried to find! She saw dragons flying in the opposite direction, and she knew they were going to raid villages, but she couldn't do anything to stop them. Some on contrary, were coming back to the nest just like them, and though they looked at Astrid with curiosity, they did nothing to attack. Eventually, they reached a big island, which seemed to be made only of gigantic rocks and Astrid wondered if giants were the ones who made this place.

Toothless flew toward an entrance which led directly inside the mountain. Hiccup was truly scared right now, not that he wasn't used to the Red Death, but this time Astrid was here and he didn't want his friend to be devoured. He took her hand, and though she seemed puzzled by this gesture, he drew her closer to him, to hide behind a rock.

"Look, but silence."

She only nodded in response and he watched her as she observed in disbelief what was happening. Dragons were throwing food down in a hole glowing red and filled with smoke, maybe she would see nothing, Hiccup considered the idea of getting lower in the mountain to allow her to see the monster, but it would be dangerous...

As he was thinking that, a Gronkle gave a small fish, he was obviously tired, maybe a little old. Then, Hiccup shivered as he saw the gigantic head getting out of the smoke and swallow the Gronkle as if he was nothing. He heard a gasp and saw Astrid agape, staring in horror at the Red Death.

"Hiccup!"

He hurriedly put his hand against her mouth, even though she didn't spoke out that loud, the Red Death could hear well. In fact, the gigantic dragon turned in their direction and roared. Hiccup yelped in fear as the Red Death started to approach them and both he and Astrid jumped on Toothless's back to fly away. They barely avoided the jaw of the monster and when Astrid turned her head to see the gigantic jaw some meters away from them, her eyes widened when she realised each of the beast's fangs were bigger than grown men. The gods were probably with them as they succeeded to get away and Toothless flew far away toward another part of the island where some tree could be found to rest there. He landed near a group of Nadder.

"Odin...I had no idea!"

"You mean humans don't know?"

"No! We always thought you were being greedy!"

"Greedy?"

She explained him the meaning and he shook his head.

"No, we must."

"I see that now. You get devoured if you don't feed it...So...Dragons don't attack us just because they hate us or want to steal. They have no choice."

Hiccup bit his lower lip, wondering how he could formulate an answer.

"Not all...Most dragons do because they have to. But..."

"What?"

"Some, not...How do you say..."

He made a gesture, approaching his hands together without closing those.

"A few? Not many?" She suggested.

"Yes! A few dragons hate humans. They attack just to kill...I know them. They are Night Furies."

They sat down and he started to explain her. She threw a glance at the Nadders near them and noticed the dragons were observing them with curiosity but weren't attacking.

"When I was a cub, we meet a group of Night Furies. The mother of the family hates humans because they killed...Her brothers and...female brothers?"

"Sisters."

"Yes. They attack humans even if they don't need. One wanted to kill me because I'm not born a dragon."

"Seriously?"

"Mother stopped him. Father also."

"Your father? You never spoke of him until now, only of your mother."

"It's Toothless's father. But when mother took me, he...accepted me too. But father Night Furies...They are not here a lot."

Indeed, male Night Furies would help the female to take care of the nest only for the first months, sometimes the first years, and after that only pay random visit once in a while. Toothless and Thinpaws's father accepted Hiccup, but didn't spend much time with him, yet no one could have tried to kill the boy in his presence. Hiccup never took this lack of attention personally, Thunder was acting pretty much the same with his own cubs.

"They visit three or four...times a year."

"It's not much. But he stopped those furies from killing you?"

"Yes. We fight each time we see them."

"I see. But most of dragons don't kill for nothing."

"Big most!"

"Big majority," Astrid corrected him with a little laugh before becoming serious again. "Well, the tribe would really need to know that..."

"You not...Don't tell them! They would kill us!"

"Hiccup..."

"Don't tell them!"

Astrid was about to say that if Stoick knew, he would consider things differently but she realized it would maybe not be the case. She had heard he had a son (Snotlout's cousin), that son had been killed by a Night Fury and even if Astrid explained him what was happening, he would still wish for revenge. Now that she thought of it, maybe this group of rogue Night Fury were the ones who took the chief's son...But this nest was what Vikings searched for since generations! Yet Hiccup and Toothless could be in danger. They had to find a solution.

"Okay...But we have to find a way...If Vikings knew, they could find a way to kill that thing."

"Can't be killed, dragons already tried."

She visioned the gigantic jaw again, and it seemed like it was impossible indeed. What if she showed them this nest only to have an useless fight and endanger Hiccup and Toothless as well. No, she would not say anything, she would need to think a lot first if she wanted to find a good solution.

A soft growl was heard and Astrid turned round to see a Nadder who was coming at their side. Hiccup smiled.

"It's Stormfly, she is always quite curious."

The Nadder was eying her with wonder, and Hiccup made those strange sounds again, Astrid guessed he was explaining her who she was.

"Try!" He proposed her.

"Try what?"

"To be her friend."

She raised her eyebrows, the idea sounded really weird, it was one thing to try with Toothless but with other dragons, no way! Yet she knew now they weren't hateful creatures, except for some. So maybe she could try after all.

"You're sure she won't eat me?"

"No, she is a friend. I accepted your friend."

That was fair indeed of her to trust his friend after he accepted to give Ruff a chance. She extended her hand tentatively and when Hiccup went to help her, she stopped him.

"No, I have to do that myself."

Hiccup nodded and backed away, letting the Viking wait for the dragon. The girl realized the dragon was nervous because of her stare. This recquired a lot of trust and a courage which was way different than the one she used whenever she would fight. She gathered all this bravery and turned her eyes away, trusting the dragon with her safety.

It didn't last long before she felt scales gently pressed against her skin, and just like the time with Toothless she felt an intense feeling and she couldn't help but smile hugely, she looked up to see Stormfly lean against her touch. She rubbed the scales softly and the Nadder nuzzled her hand. Oh her whole tribe would have called her crazy, but it was worth it. Stormfly eventually backed away, but before she left they exchanged a glance. The Nadder's eyes were soft, kind, and Astrid felt like her heart was being gripped. Stormfly...She wished she could see this dragon again in the future. Behind her, Hiccup was smiling and he was also feeling like his heart was gripped.

 **So Astrid just met Stormfly, they will meet again in the future of course. I know the last sentence is a little cheesy but Astrid and Hiccup are just so cute!**

 **Don't hesitate to review, constructive criticism in particular are very helpful. And before any of you make that comment, yeah I know it's absolutely stupid and dangerous to throw things at a bunch of wild boars (depending on what you throw it can even be animal abuse), but it's an idea from Ruff.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Warning: As some of you might have noticed, the rating changed, it passed to T, and that's because there will be violence and rape attempt in this chapter. I always thought that for Vikings, our heroes were a little too soft. Here they won't be.**

 **Someone told me that Hiccup tended to have his ass kicked too often, if it's indeed the case, the following chapter should balance things a little more.**

The day after Hiccup showed Atsrid the nest, she and Ruff saw him again, but not in the woods. A dragon attack occurred and they saw him from afar, fighting against the adults and freeing dragons. He was careful not to go near them, and none of the girl wished to face him. Stoick and most of the Hooligans were trying to catch him, it was the first time he attacked the villagesince he escaped from jail and it was finally the occasion to put him back in. Astrid silently prayed they wouldn't.

It was a failure for the Hooligans, though they succeeded to protect most of their stock the Dragon's Prince was still free at the end of the attack. Only Ruff and Astrid were happy of that. In spite of the dragon attack, that day went quite well. It wasn't the case for the following day however.

Usually, the Hooligans could foresee attacks from Alvin and the Outcasts, and retaliate before they could even come in the village and fight on land. However two watch towers had been very recently destroyed during a dragon attack, and the surveillance of the island had been lacking due to that. So when the Outcasts ships were sighted at the dawn, it was way too late to prepare the ships for a battle on the sea. Stoick barked some orders for the children and the elderly people to be hidden safe while the rest of the tribe would fight.

The teens were nervous, it would be their first battle. Before, they wouldn't have been deemed experienced enough to go on the battle field, but when someone had already begun dragon training they were considered apt to battle against other warriors. They were watching as the battle was about to get place. The twins and Astrid were nervous but ready to kick some asses, they wouldn't back. Snotlout was trying to hide his fear but was failing at it, and Fishlegs wasn't trying at all.

"We're all gonna die," he whinned.

"Fishlegs, we have to be strong," Astrid growled.

Vikings weren't supposed to feel fear, but right now none of the teens could help it. Her first battle was something Astrid anticipated and trained for, yet she realized nothing could really prepare one for it. She was going to kill other people...It was as if she was standing at the very edge of a cliff and was about to jump, it was somehow thrilling and terrifying at the same time. She couldn't help but think of Hiccup in that moment: did he felt like she was feeling right now when he first went with dragons to fight against bigger and older people?

It started.

Outcasts put foot on their island and started to attack the village, and it felt like a gigantic wave from the ocean to the new warriors. They weren't in the first line, they were more in the back, charged to stop the Outcast from going too far in their lands where the children and elderly people were hiding.

"Come on guys, let's fight!" Astrid yelled to her friends.

They all roared furiously and ran into the battle with the other warriors. It was extremely chaotic, Astrid hardly had time to see the faces of the people she thought, she and her friends, were mainly retaliating against attackers. Astrid was fighting against an older woman, this one was a good fighter, but the young girl was swifter and though the Outcast almost crushed her skull with her mace, Astrid avoided the blow and planted her axe in the woman's neck. At the sight of the blood, she felt electricity in her. She had done it...She killed an enemy! Yet she didn't have time to ponder on that as others were attacking. She attacked a man who was trying to kill Svala by behind and though he was muscular, the man wasn't that good with his sword. He quite clumsily tried to aim at her flank but she parried and deflected to aim at his shoulder and managed to hurt him quite badly there. The man let out a yell and tried to gut her, but she managed to avoid it and then it was her turn to aim at his flank. She got a little too close and not only he blocked but also pushed her away strongly, she almost tripped and he ran to throw himself at her, but then she jumped on the side at the last second and sent her axe in his flank again. This time, she didn't miss.

The battle field was messy, especially because they were fighting in the middle of houses and other buildings, some areas were crowded while others were leaving a lot of spaces to fight but also a lot of spaces to be attacked. Astrid realized she had been separated from her friends during the fight. It didn't matter, she would still keep her position, she had to...

All suddenly, an Outcast jumped in her direction to tackle her, and she only had the time to throw herself on the side, and soon enough, she realized she had three attackers coming toward her. Those were young men, probably around twenty and already broad and tall. She didn't have to analyze the situation much to know she was in a bad situation, fighting against three bigger opponents was definitely not an advantage. Yet she wouldn't let that intimidate her.

"Look what we found here!" One of them barked.

She retaliated against the one who sent his sword at her and parried his blow perfectly, and did exactly the same with the second one who aimed at her flank. It was strange, because though they weren't going easy on her they didn't seem to be actually trying to murder her like the others either. However she was forced to back away because of their combined assaults It was as if they were predators playing with their food...All of sudden, the three of them attacked at them same time, and while she avoided the weapons, she got a punch in the guts and a kick in the leg.

Instead of taking this occasion to slam their weapons on her, the three young men pushed her roughly against the wall of the closest house, and Astrid felt a cold shiver ran through her as she understood: they didn't simply want to kill her, they were about to rape her. They had pushed her toward the closest house to corner her. No way! She roared and sent her axe toward one of them before they could pin her against the wall. She aimed for the crotch to send a clear message. He barely had the time to parry and let out a laugh.

"This is one wild little bitch!"

"We're gonna have fun guys!"

"Try to touch me and I swear you'll be hardly worth to be called men anymore!"

"Get her!"

He axe met another blade but while she had to defend herself against one, the two others took her arms by surprise, stopping her from using her weapon. She felt a cold wave, they were restraining her! The third who wasn't holding her tore the axe away from her hand. She was pinned against the wall, the guy who took her axe threw it to the ground and was about to rip her clothes while she was still restrained but Astrid wasn't defeated yet. Her heart was beating like crazy, she couldn't let that happen! She violently sent her foot in one guy's crotch, making him bent in half and then sent her other feet in his face. Because she was restrained the blow hadn't been as effective as she hoped but the guy's nose was bleeding profusely.

"You fucking little cunt!"

The two other guys were pulling strongly on her arms and she remembered how to react. She pushed her arms down swiftly, using a vertical move to counter their strong pulling. It worked andhe got herself away from their grasp; she punched one of them, another tried to grab her by behind but she sent her skull back and hit his jaw hard with it, and she struggled like crazy, kicking, biting and punching. While she pushed herslef away and punched the man in the gut, she received a strong kick in the side which she hadn't seen coming and she hit the wall hard. Taking advantage of it, the three men took hold of her, one was grasping her chest tightly while the two others were holding her legs and though she was still struggling like a fury, she was still a thirteen year-old against three bigger young adults. She succeeded to send her foot in one guy's stomach but it didn't make him release, she had to find something, she had to...

A sharp sound was heard and all suddenly, one of the guys who was holding her leg suddenly fell down, his back and his skull burned.

 **O o O**

After the dragon attack yesterday, Hiccup hadn't slept much, worried of what Astrid would say. He and toothless had taken refuge on a small islet nearby Berk to rest there and woke up quite early to search for food. That's when they saw something strange was happening to the Hooligan tribe, and decided to see for themselves what it could be. They quickly understood the village was being attacked again, only not by dragons but other men this time. Hiccup saw the fight from above, people were killing each other senselessly.

" _What's happening there?_ "

" _I don't know, but they are massacring one another!_ "

" _Where are our friends?_ "

Toothless's second question rose fear in Hiccup, where were Astrid and Ruffnutt?They flew above, not being noticed by humans who were too busy with their bloodshed, and they soon saw Ruffnutt fighting with other people, she seemed fine, maybe they would help her if Astrid...

" _There!_ " Toothless shrieked

Hiccup felt a cold wave in him as he saw Astrid next to a house, being held by three men while struggling like crazy. Having been raised in the wild, Hiccup was far from an ignorant and he had a pretty good idea of what three males could want when they cornered a female. Rage seized him more than it ever had and he took out his sword.

" _Shoot them! Bring me down!_ "

Toothless didn't wait, he plunged toward the mass and shot at the Outcasts who were holding Astrid, one of them was killed on the spot and the two others released their prey to back away, horrified when they saw a Night Fury plunging toward them. Astrid gasped in relief and quickly took that opportunity, she plunged toward her axe, gripped it tightly and attacked one of the two remaining guys (the one who tried to rip her clothes); she sent her weapon at him furiously and he hardly avoided the blow this time, allowing Astrid to make a big wound on his arm.

Hiccup jumped from his brother's back and landed on the ground only to immediately lunge at the remaining one who wasn't being attacked by Astrid. Toothless attacked two Outcast who came to attack, leaving the teenagers to take care of Astrid's attacker. The guy Hiccup was fighting was probably twice as big as him but the feral boy had the rage of a thousand like him. He threw his word at him, the bigger boy parried but Hiccup immediately attacked again, aiming at his stomach this time, and though the Outcast dodged, a swirl of the feral boy hit the Outcast in the shoulder, but the older one retaliated by sending his good elbow in the boy's jaw, pushing him away in the process, then he sent his axe with all his force at he boy's hand and almost cut off his fingers, instead he got the handle of the sword and the weapon fell off Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup leaped to avoid one other blow, his sword was too far, but the boy perfectly could fight without it. Seizing a stone, he swirled aside when the boy vertically sent his sword to slice his skull, caught the wrist of his good arm and before the Outcast could react, crushed to the stone against his fingers, breaking some of those. The older boy yelled and violently pushed Hiccup away, yet he had let go of his sword because of the pain, and the feral boy took that opportunity to throw himself at him, lunging while roaring furiously. He thrusted his claws in the boy's neck and planted his teeth in the boy's upper lip, drawing out blood in the process. The guy yelled and tried to push Hiccup off of him, and tripped in his struggle. The Outcast landed on his back, Hiccup on top of him. Hiccup shook his head violently and ripped the young man's lower lip away.

Screams of pain were heard through the chaos, with his sliced should and his broken fingers, the outcast could hardly do much to push Hiccup away. His hands released the man's neck and before his victim could try to catch his wrists, he sent his fingers in the Outcast's eyes, putting out his eyes. River's of blood leaked from the man's eyes's sock as Hiccup proceeded to rip off his other lip. The Outcast passed out under the pain, and Hiccup let go of him. He wasn't dead yet, but he wasn't in the state to fight anyway and he would probably die soon anyway. As Hiccup stood up he was tackled by surprise by another Outcast, he found himself pinned on the ground and the man punched him, he looked furious.

"You fucking beast! My son..."

The guy never finished his sentence as his neck was chopped by an axe. Hiccup saw Astrid above them, her axe planted in the man's neck. She pushed the body with a kick before he could fall on Hiccup and helped her friend to get off the ground.

"Your fucking son is dead," she growled.

She had also killed the one whom she attacked, now the three rapists were gone. They didn't take time to exchange words, he threw himself at his sword and Astrid and he fought side by side in the battle. Toothless joined them soon and Hiccup hissed and roared furiously, and though he was scrawny and small, he scared his enemy away with all the blood on his lips and roars and hisses. He sliced a man's throat, and Astrid gutted another shortly after they threw themselves in the battle, and Toothless shot and tore the limbs of all those who tried to attack those two by surprise.

Maybe it was because of the Night Fury's presence, but the Outcasts retreated shortly after Hiccup and Toothless's arrival. It was maybe also because the Hooligans had been getting the upper hand even before those two appeared. Anyway, the Outcasts ran to their ships, some of them were massacred by angry Hooligans in the process.

Hiccup was finishing one last Outcast, he had sent his sword through his belly and eventually, his animals instinct took over and he clawed the man's face, covering it in blood. His fingers were also covered in blood, and when Stoick came toward them running, Hiccup jumped back on his feet and hissed like a lynx and Stoick felt disgust when he saw the boy's clothes, jaw and hands covered in blood from all the people he bit, clawed and stabbed. He ran toward the boy but Astrid jumped before him, startling him.

"No! Leave him be!"

He pushed her out of the way but lost some precious seconds. Toothless had jumped at his brother's side and Hiccup was on his back in a second and before Stoick or anyone could catch him back, the two were flying away. Astrid felt relief spread through her, at least until she saw Stoick turn toward her with rage in his eyes. Some other people who saw what happened gave her angry and baffled glares as well.

The Hooligans had noticed the Night Fury and the Dragon's Prince of course and they gathered to the spot where they had seen those two leaving. The people who got close enough saw that the chief was pointing his axe toward Astrid. She could hear them speak, some explaining what happened to others who didn't see. Her behaviour since the capture of the Dragons' Prince had been strange and now she was going to go through the consequences. Astrid felt all the stares on her and she just watched the ground, not knowing how to answer the question she had been asked.

"Astrid!"

Her parents were stopped by several people from rushing toward her. She had to face the wrath of the chief.

"What have you done?!" He hissed loudly and threateningly.

The chief was starting to grow angry, her silent attitude reminded her of the dragon-child when he still thought he could talk, except Astrid could talk, and she was supposed to be one of them!

"That thing came to fight at your side, and you helped him escape! You'd better have a good explanation to justify this treason, girl!"

"Our daughter is no traitor!" Yelled her father. "Tell them Astrid...Astrid?"

But the girl kept silent. She had understood it was the moment to make a choice.

She closed her eyes and continued to feel the stares on her, if she told the truth, she was exposing herself as a traitor. But if she lied, if she continued her ways which she came to question more and more, then she wouldn't live with herself. She had to choose between betraying the people she loved, the people she grew up with and the boy who showed her his world and saved her honour and life. A distant dragon's yell was heard from the arena, and then it seemed like she could hear Hiccup's words as if he was speaking aloud to her at this moment, and she realized the shame of betraying him was heavier than the shame of betraying her tribe. She took a deep breath and looked up at the chief, mustering all her pride.

"I'm not gonna lie. That boy and his dragon are my friends indeed."

Those words outraged everyone and wave of indignant words and exclamations was heard. Stoick spoke louder than anyone, he was furious, he wasn't close to that girl but he always respected and somehow liked her for her strenght and dedication. He had trusted her and he couldn't believe she was doing this.

"So that's it! You did betray us!"

"No! I'm not a traitor! And they came to help me, in the end they helped us all…"

"Silence!"

He seized the girl by her shirt and pulled her toward him to make her look at him and after what she had been threatened to got through at the hands of those three Outcasts, she felt like she was going to burst at this simple contact. She gripped Stoick's hands hard, trying to free herself but she wasn't strong enough against that giant.

"You perfectly know what dragons did! You perfectly know how they torment everyone! And you go to this little monster, you saved his life in battle and stopped me from capturing him!"

"Yes, I did, because it's him and his dragon who saved my honour and life, not my tribe!"

She heard whispers and indignant yells, and though she didn't say anything anymore, she was still furious. It dawned on her that she almost got raped earlier, and none of them seemed to care!

"Call me a traitor if you want, but I'm not gonna turn my back to him."

Stoick did his best to control himself right now, the girl's defiance was infuriating, not so much because she was standing for herself, but because she was standing for that _thing_. He had to think rationally, so the right things and ask the right questions.

"Did he take you to the nest? Have you been there?"

In his rage, Stoick didn't pay attention when she said 'her honour' had been saved, he hadn't seen the rape attempt, only the moment when she saved Hiccup's life by killing an Outcast. But Astrid wasn't aware of that, she thought he had seen everything. She knew she would deny them the discovery Vikings died for since generations, but she didn't care, she was just angry at all of them.

"No."

"Too bad, your felony would have been useful otherwise. Put her in a cell! She is a traitor."

In spite of her anger, Astrid felt suddenly very fragile, she felt she was nothing but a little piece of flesh and bones to be crushed, she felt cornered again. It could have make her cry, honestly, she had fought with all her might to protect her tribe, and now…Her parents would hate her too, but she didn't even know how she was feeling toward them. They tried to defend her against accusations, but they hadn't been here during the battle, when those guys tried to sully her. She remembered Hiccup and Toothless and she clung to that, it was worth it. So she held her head high, let her eyes turn into stone, and she followed the men taking her away without a word with the dignity of a queen.

In the crowd, Ruffnutt was confronted to the very same choice as Astrid, and she never felt so torn apart in her life.

During this battle, she had remained with her brother, and some adults had stayed near them to help them, but they had been separated from Astrid and Ruffnutt truly feared for her life during this chaos. Now Astrid was threatened again, but in a different way. What should she do? She kept Astrid's secret and she knew she shouldn't have, she knew she did something bad, but Astrid was her friend, so she did. In the process, Hiccup and Toothless had started to become her friends. Now, Astrid was being taken in jail and Ruff hated that, they were all looking at her like a criminal, but Astrid wasn't a criminal, wasn't she?

Ruff remembered how once she and her brother went to steal paint to throw it on buildings. They had been surprised by Stoick right when they were about to throw it on his house. Her first thought was to run away, but Tuff had looked at her with a bright smile and told her: _Let's take on it till the very end!_ And he had thrown all the paint on the house under the chief's eyes. She mimicked him. They had been punished of course, well punished, but they both concluded it was worth it.

Ruffnutt frowned, her resolve was taken. She hadn't been here for her friend during the battle, but she had helped Astrid and Hiccup, she would continue and take on it to the very end. She turned round and started to leave, when she heard her brother:

"Where are you going?"

"Don't bother, mutton head! I've something to do! Alone!"

Her brother shrugged and let her leave, thinking it was probably nature's call, because it was generally one of the few reasons why Ruff wanted to stay away from him. She ran toward the woods and didn't stop her course until she was at the cove, maybe he would come here to rest. She looked around and saw no one.

"God, why won't he be there when someone needs it! Hiccup! Hiccup!"

She called for him several times, when suddenly she saw a big form emerging from the trees, and for a moment she feared it could be another dragon, but she was soon relieved to see Toothless and Hiccup. The boy was obviously confused to see her alone and she ran toward him immediately, but the boy backed away a little, reminding Ruffnutt he hadn't give her trust completely to her already, and seeing her without Astrid wasn't easy for him. The girl rolled her eyes, there was no time for his usual feral-boy behaviour!

"Hiccup, you must come with me!"

"Why?"

"Astrid! When you saved her life earlier, the other, they understood!"

"Understood?"

"Yes, you dumbass! They understood you're friends! She is in jail now, they call her a traitor!"

Hiccup paled at this, and Toothless felt the worry from his brother. He was about to tell the girl to led him to her, but he realized this could be a trap. Could he trust that human? Until now she had been friendly, but he didn't know her since long. But Astrid…Astrid could be really in danger, he couldn't let her rot in a cell, he remembered how he felt in there. If it was a trap, well he would escape again, he did it once, he would do it twice!

"We free her!"

"But there are guards!" Ruffnutt said.

"Dragons will come tonight. I know it. When they'll attack, I'll free Astrid and you'll have to help me."

"How?"

He sat down in the grass and they started to make a plan, watched by the Night Fury all along.

 **Let's hope those two will have a good plan! I'm getting fond of writing action scenes, though I admitted the part with Hiccup was a little gory, but he is feral after all. Tell me what you think!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Hi everybody! Thanks for all the reviews you posted, guests included, even if I can't always answer you. About the gore during last chapter, I'm glad some of you liked it; other didn't, someone even called that lazy writing; so to those who didn't appreciate, I just want to assure you that it did have a point, it wasn't out of laziness and maybe you'll see in this chapter why I judged that some gore could be a good addition in the previous one. Hope you'll enjoy!**

After the attack from the Outcasts, the chief had called council in the Great Hall. They would speak not only of the outcome of the battle, but also about Astrid Hofferson and what happened with the Dragons' Prince. Her parents were here, hoping they would be able to defend their daughter against their accusation, they hadn't been allowed to see her injail and obviously Astrid had done something, but she was still their little girl. Someone, who had been close enough and saw the three boys' attempt to corner Astrid, was telling them the events.

"I had no doubt of what they wanted, I tried to help the girl but two Outcasts jumped on me, and I couldn't do anything..."

"My daughter could have been raped!" Olga yelled.

"Silence," Stoick ordered.

"She was fighting them like a devil. Then, this dragon came from the sky and killed one of them. The boy also came and attacked another, I didn't have the occasion to look much at what was happening, other enemies came."

"So you can affirm that the girl was almost raped and that he saved her from this?"

"Yes. I think Svala also saw what happened."

"I saw the girl being cornered too, but I also wasn't able to help her. I also saw the boy was attacking her opponents."

"Then this explain why the lass helped him, she was indebted to him after that," Gobber advanced.

"That's true," her father added, "Viking's code of honor implies that you have to repay your debts, even to an enemy."

Stoick could have agreed with them, it would have been a good excuse to help the Dragons' Prince against the Outcast indeed, he could have even forgave the girl for stopping him when he tried to catch the devil. But it wasn't all.

"She said he was her friend, it implies more, and he didn't help us but _her_ in particular. We all saw how your daughter had been acting when it came to that devil. She had let him corrupt her."

Olga was about to say that if it was the case then Stoick was also responsible for not killing him the day they captured him, but another thought crossed her mind: if the Prince had died her daughter would have been raped and then probably killed by those three monsters. This boy saved her girl...It really dawned on her now: she owed to that feral boy a lot. She looked at her husband.

"He saved her, Egil."

"I know."

Now it didn't mattered what the boy did in the past, it didn't mattered anymore that the child had been raised by dragons.

"It might seems crazy, but when I think of the time he bit Snotlout, I wonder if that wilding had been...merciful," Spitelout said thoughfully

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Snotlout was bleeding a little after their fight but he was still okay, and now that I saw what he did to a bigger guy, I think it could have been worse. Why did he spare my boy?"

This left most of the people around quite speechless. Indeed, it was a strange question, and now that this point was raised, it was true the wild boy never killed anyone in the village. There had been some wounds, and he fought ferociously to free dragons, but he had never severely injured or killed anyone. They thought it was because he wasn't strong enough, yet they had been proved wrong.

"I can't tell, Spitelout. Did Astrid tell you anything?" Asked the chief

"We tried to interrogate the girl, but she won't speak," Spitelout reported.

"Then we will..."

Stoick's voice was interrupted by roars and bangs over the rooftop. A dragon attack! Everyone went out, a Nadder was on the roof, the beast fired at them. A rough start but they got worse.

From the distance, Hiccup was watching the attack on Toothless's back. If Ruffnutt had done her part right, then everything would be fine, the Vikings were overwhelmed by the dragons attacking and he would have no problem freeing Astrid. He sighted Ruffnutt and her friend from the distance, nudged his brother and the dragon extended his wing to rise in the sky.

" _Toothless, right above them!_ "

" _I know! I hope this will work!_ "

He flew above the village, the night providing a perfect cover. Then he was above them: the group of teen were extinguishing a fire, and Toothless plunged to let Hiccup jump from his back at a safe distance. The boy fell right beside Ruffnutt who turned toward him and acted as if she was surprised but in reality she had been waiting for for him. He tackled her to the ground and acted as if he was going to beat her, Ruffnutt grabbed his hand, acting as if she was trying to block him, but in reality, she was giving him something.

A kick made him roll on the side and he just had the time to see Tuffnutt about to attack him, but Hiccup jumped back on his feet and leaped away, avoiding the blow successfully. He then ran away from them, it wasn't as if he wanted to fight them anyway.

Tuffnutt was just baffled, he turned toward the others who didn't even have the time to react when

Ruff was attacked.

"I did it! He was scared of me!"

"How did you do that?!" Fishlegs and Sotlout both exclaimed.

"It's thanks to my absolute awesomeness..."

"Stop it, muttonhead, you just got lucky," Ruff yelled while hitting him.

"Oh yeah, you say that because he was about to beat you! I saved you!"

Her brother continued to tease her as they made their way to the next well, but Ruffnutt was hardly listening, she just hoped Hiccup would be able to do his part right. She had done hers now. After she had left Hiccup earlier, she had ran to the prison where she begged the guard to let her see Astrid, and they eventually accepted.

 _She was led to Astrid's cell and the guard allowed to come in, unlocking the door to have her enter. Her friend's face was hard and unmoving, but when she saw Ruffnutt she softened._

" _Ruffnutt."_

" _Astrid, I need to understand why you did that," she said while winking._

 _Astrid understood immediately._

" _You wouldn't understand Ruff."_

" _Astrid, I hate to see you here."_

" _There is no other way."_

" _When you said he saved your honour..."_

" _Those Outcasts wanted to rape me. Hadn't he come and help me, they would have probably succeeded."_

" _I'm sorry. I should have been there..."_

" _No, it's not your fault. And I'm fine."_

 _Her tone perfectly showed she didn't want to talk about this. They sat on the ground and as the guard was starting to walk away to watch over other prisoners, Ruffnutt murmured:_

" _Hiccup and I have a plan to make you go out tonight, be ready."_

" _What is it?"_

" _Let's say there will be an attack tonight and you won't stay for long in that cell. Be ready to fight when he'll come in."_

 _Astrid nodded and they continued to act as if Ruff was trying to understand why Astrid 'betrayed' the tribe and eventually, she left. The guard closed the cell behind her and Ruffnutt hugged him._

" _Thank you for letting me see my friend!"_

" _Er...You're welcome girl."_

 _Ruffnutt threw a glance at Astrid who was smirking. Playing tricks had developped the girl's stealth a lot, and she was good when it came to steal from someone's pocket. She put the cell's keys in her own pocket very discreetely and left the jail. Now, as Hiccup and she decided, she would wait for him to 'attack' her this evening._

Now Ruffnutt was hoping that Astrid and Hiccup would be fine. Her friend would have to run away and she knew she would miss Astrid but there was no other way. For a moment she wondered if she shouldn't come with them, but then it would mean she would have to leave her brother behind and in spite of every arguing they had, every nasty tricks they played on each other, she loved him more than anything. He also loved her as well, when she had been 'attacked' by Hiccup, he had defended her, and they had fought side by side during the battle against the Outcasts. She couldn't leave him.

Hiccup was being as stealthy as he could, taking advantage of every shadow possible, his thin frame was definitely useful for that. Managing to reach the prison without being attacked, he hide in the shadow and used the keys to come into the prison. There were no guards in, after an attack of dragons yesterday and an attack of the Outcasts this morning, a lot of Hooligans were hurt and the tribe couldn't afford to have guards waiting in the prison. That's why Hiccup had no difficulty to come in. He had seen the men using keys during his stay here, it was strange to him but he understood quickly how to handle this.

It might have been simpler to destroy a wall like they ha done when he was imprisoned, but they didn't know where Astrid was exactly in this prison, plus Hiccup feared that the Hooligan would see it coming more quickly now that they had done it once. Being here again made him feel sick, he couldn't help but remember the horrible feeling of being trapped, the big chief's burning eyes and the maddening loneliness...The fear to be trapped again in there gripped him. Yet he didn't let it stop him, he had to find his friend.

"Astrid!"

"Hiccup?"

He ran toward the sound of her voice, and found himself before her cell, she had her hands on the bars, she looked exhausted. He searched for the right keys to put in the hole, he had to be quick, they didn't have all the time in the world.

"I wondered when you would come!"

"You leave," he breathed while struggling to find the right key.

He unlocked the door and she spring out of her cell as if it had been on fire. The two started to ran toward the exit, ignoring the prisoners who were yelling for them to free them as well. The two teenagers had no time to loose. They got out of the prison easily, but it wasn't the most difficult part.

As soon as they were out, they were sighted. Hiccup just had the time to howl to call his brother before someone charged them both. Astrid didn't have any weapon, yet it didn't mean she wouldn't fight, the man tackled Hiccup but before he could do more than pin him on the ground, the girl landed a hard kick in the man's head, making his hold on the boy's hand lessen. Hiccup freed his wrists and clawed at his face while Astrid landed another kick on the man's head again. The warrior fell over Hiccup and Astrid helped him to make their attacker roll over the ground.

Hiccup just got up when another warrior lunged at them and went to punch Astrid but the girl dodged and Hiccup jumped on his back to squeeze his throat with all his strenght to choke him, biting his cheek at the same time, and while the man tried to get him off his back, Astrid punched him hard again right below the sternum, cutting his breath which was already lacking and making him bend in two, then she sent her feet again in his face and this time the man's body slumped while Hiccup jumped off his back.

With furious yells, other Vikings ran toward them but a plasma blast thrown at them obliged the warriors to stop their course and get down. Toothless landed near the teens and they were about to get on his back when bolas was thrown at the dragons by their attackers who quickly got back on their feet. Toothless's tail was completely restrained as well as one of his wings.

"Traitor!"

Astrid started to undo Toothless's bonds and Hiccup was about to take out his sword to fight when suddenly, spikes were thrown and their attackers as well as a big wave of fire. Astrid rose her head and saw a Nadder defending them. Hiccup joined her to undo Toothless's bonds, it was done quickly enough. They jumped on his back and the black dragon flew away, followed soon by the Nadder. They avoided other projectiles but they were soon out of the Hooligan's reach and even the sound of their voices started to become distant.

As they flew in the nightly sky, Astrid threw one last glance at Berk, this place she loved but was so angry at. They rejected her, locked her up in a cell...She wouldn't return, no...Except maybe to see Ruff...She didn't even have the time to say goodbye to her parents. But did it really matter? They would have disowned her probably anyway for lying and befriending Hiccup. Well, they could go to Hel, she would remain faithful to the dragon boy and to herself. She embraced him further and put her head against his back.

"Thank you...For everything."

He put a hand on the arms hugging him, feeling strangely warm inside at such a contact. Some comfort was also welcome for him. He had felt weird after the fight, he had never killed a human being before, just wounded some at most. He didn't know why but he felt weird since he killed that man. It wasn't a matter of remorse at all, be had none, but he felt different.

"I'm happy you're fine."

Her eyes went on the Nadder flying near them and she wondered something.

"Is that Stormfly?"

"Yes. She helps us."

The Nadder approached and Astrid extended her hand to touch her. Stormfly nuzzled slightly against her hand, while flying right beside them. The girl smiled hugely, feeling some tears tickles her eyes.

"We will not sleep on Berk," Hiccup stated.

"Yeah, it's probably better," she mumbled.

She embraced him all along, after everything that happened today, she desperately needed comfort. Crying was out of question of course, she hadn't cried in her cell out of pride, she wouldn't cry now, it would be stupid, especially now that she was free and with friends...She saw Stormfly again and the soft, gentle look the Nadder gave her won over all her resolves to be stern. Tears prickled her eyes and she cried. Hiccup contorted himself to turn toward her and passed an arm around her shoulders.

"I cried too."

She heard of that, she knew he cried after Stoick tried to interrogate him. She realized it probably didn't matter to him that she was crying, other Vikings would have reproached her her weakness, but he wasn't a Viking. Without saying a word, she continued to cry while they hugged in a awkward position on Toothless's back.

The dragons landed soon on an islet and they started to make themselves comfortable, Astrid's cry had stopped though she was still feeling down. Hiccup wasn't sure how to comfort her, was there a pecific way to comfort a human? All he knew was that what e felt was probably nothing compared to her, who not only had to kill but also almost got forcefully taken.

The young girl stood, looking at the dark sea without saying a word or moving. Since what happened, she felt like a part of her was dead, not only because of the rape attempt, but because of that whole. Berk had rarely been attacked by humans during this last decade, and the very few times it had happened, she had been hidden with the children. It had been her first time on a battlefield against humans, and she realized that she had seen true violence here: mindless and vicious. She had heard tales of battles , those were always described as glorious thing: it was all a lie.

Behind Astrid, Hiccup was still hesitant, wondering what was in her mind. The boy approached her by behind and put his hands on her shoulders gently. She tensed but didn't try to get away, and he put his head against her neck, he didn't know what to say, maybe he should let her talk. Astrid was a little uncomfortable, physical contact now seemed invasive. Yet she didn't shrug away from his touch, this was Hiccup, the one who saved her twice, she wouldn't let those bastards ruin their friendship, she wouldn't let them have such an impact on her life by making her unable to stand touch.

That's why she tried to relax and after a few moments, she was feeling more at ease, Hiccup was doing nothing more, and she felt she could trust him. She looked at the sea again, and wondered what everyone would say now that she had escaped. She imagined them all, cursing at her again, calling her a traitor. Would they say she had dark magic too? That she called the dragons and their prince by using some kind of power? Mildew probably would. What would her parents say? What would they do? And what about Ruff? She hoped no one would discover that she helped Hiccup to make her evade.

In this train of thoughts, Astrid realized she wasn't really a Hooligan anymore, was she still even a Viking? She was going to live in the wild with a feral boy and a dragon. She felt strange as she acknowledged that she was going to enter a completely different world...Astrid's eyes widened as she understood something all of sudden.

"Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

She turned toward him, and he let go of her.

"You remember the very first time we met? You had fallen from the sky and we started to fight."

"I remember."

"We looked at each other in the eyes for the very first time."

"Yes."

"Something happened at this moment, in me. We both froze, and I remember that I was really upset after seeing your eyes. I thought it was because I was surprised to understand you were human."

"What do you think I was?"

"Some kind of weird monster, a mix of a human and a dragon."

"What?!"

"Don't laugh at me, I wasn't the only one! But I understand now, I wasn't only unsettled because I was surprised, but because to me the world of dragons and humans...Both were completely different, completely separated and weren't supposed to do anything but fight. Vikings strongly believe it and I believed it too. A human among dragons, raised by them, it implied so much...As long as I could think you were some kind of hybrid, I could continue to keep that belief. But then I saw your eyes..."

And one look in those had been enough to made her vision of the world shatter.

"I saw two worlds in one being. Then I saw your face, it didn't make things easier. I started to like you..."

"And you understood that what you thought you knew was wrong."

"Yes...I wasn't totally aware of it but now I understand I was feeling bad because my faith was crumbling..." She sighed and declared very clearly: "I'm staying with you."

"You're not obliged. You can find another tribe."

"I want to. I know nothing, Vikings know nothing; I need to see and understand things by myself, so that way I can build back my faith on something true."

He smiled to her, she was livelier than earlier, it was good. He approached her to nuzzle her face, but remembered that it was something humans did not do. That's maybe why he was so surprised when she rubbed her cheek against his in a cat-like way. His smile grew bigger and suddenly Toothless jumped on both of them for a cuddle. They laughed and cuddled with the beast and Stormfly joined them to obtain some caresses. Eventually, they laid on the ground against the dragons, sheltered by their bodies. Astrid could hardly sleep in that night, thoughts of what she faced, what she would discover, the sore feelings of loosing her tribe and the excitement and happiness to be with Hiccup for a new life all melting together and invading her mind. Nothing was more uncertain than her future now.

 **Poor Astrid is really going through a lot right now. This is somehow the end of the first arc of this story, now new adventures will start, I must say I'm pretty excited for this!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Hi everybody! Sorry I couldn't update more quickly, my internet got some little problem again recently. A guest asked me what happened to Ruff, well you won't know now, for now I'll focus mostly on Hiccup, Astrid and their dragons. Some also asked me if this would be a serie: no, everything will be posted here.**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter, I was particulary fond of it, I listened a lot to Alan Stivell's version of Tri Martolod, it inspires me a lot when I write this fic.**

Days had passed after Astrid and Hiccup's escape, and the girl had the chance to discover new places in the archipalego while spring was reviving everything. In order to survive the cold nights in the wild, she made herself a coat and new clothes with fur from a fox and a young bear who tried to eat them and was killed by the young girl in return. Vikings could do beautiful fur coats and clothes, however what Astrid made was coarse and unpolished. It made her look wilder, a little like Hiccup. She only kept the spikes from her old skirt and her boots. She could have just kept her old clothes and simply add the furs of top of those, but she didn't want any of it anymore. The only reason why she kept the spikes was because it could offer some kind of protection. She was especially proud of the pants she managed to craft, those were the coarsest part of her clothing but it was also the most difficult to make. For once in her life, she was glad her mother insisted on teaching her how to sew.

Their little group avoided islands inhabited by Vikings, and preferred to stay in wild places. Yet they had been sighted once by the Bog-Burglar tribe, which was quite close to Berk, and a rumor started that the Dragons' Prince now had a mate. The term Dragons' Princess started to spread among Vikings.

Astrid heard none of those rumors and even if she had, she wouldn't have cared; she had much more to think about. She was still tormented by what almost happened to her back on Berk in the hands of the three Outcasts, by her imprisonment and by the fact she lost her old life and people she once loved. She thought of her parents every day, she felt angered at them, even though she knew they weren't responsible of what happened. She also missed them, she missed them every morning when she woke up. She had nightmares at night, and at times during the day she was feeling suddenly sad and at the verge of crying. Yet, she was also grateful for the new chance she got. She was impressed by everything she could see and experience now; flying in the sky was making her feel free and she was happy to be with her new friends without hiding. A new world was revealing itself to her: she could visit places she never approached before, she learned a lot, she befriended dragons who she would have mindlessly fought days ago. Also, even if she was shy to that she was more and more aware she was falling in love with the dragon-child.

Hiccup was worried and happy too. He never lived with another human and he was quite scared by that, he didn't know what to expect of all this, but more of all he was worried for her. It was obvious Astrid was hurt by everything that happened to her during the battle, and Hiccup felt useless at times whenever he would see her stare at the atmosphere sadly, even if he tried to comfort her, he had the feeling he could hardly do much. However he could see she was genuinely happy at other moments, not only when they would fly and discover new places, but also when they would share simple talks or games, and he was also joyful that she was here with him. They were learning from each other, and his young curious mind could only only be thrilled by it.

They were starting to get really far from Berk, Hiccup and Toothless decided they would let Astrid discover the island of Night Furies. It was how dragons called that place not only because it was full of Night Furies but also because the ruler of the island was one of the biggest Night Furies to have ever lived: Thunder, Toothless and Thinpaws's father.

Stormfly was coming along with them, although she was still not letting Astrid get on her back, she was getting fonder and fonder of the girl, a feeling which was mutual. Every day Astrid had silently asked her if she could mount on her back by putting her hands on it, but the Nadder refused each time, even though she was always gentle while doing so.

"Will your father be okay with Stormfly? I mean if it's an island for Night Furies..." Astrid asked as they were heading toward the island.

"Of course," Hiccup replied, "other dragons live there, more...I mean mainly Night Night Furies but other dragons and animals too."

Night had fallen but it was certainly no problem for Toothless, they were getting closer and closer. There were only a few clouds tonight, and the stars were even brighter thanks to the moonless night. The two teenagers admired the sky, when Astrid remembered something:

"Hiccup, you told me about Night Furies who hate humans and tried to kill you, remember?"

"They shouldn't be here. Father forbad them the island. Only one tried to kill me, the others just not liked me."

"I see."

As they were approaching, Hiccup heard movements near them and distinguished vague forms in the black sky. He smiled, maybe he would meet old friends among them, he turned toward Astrid.

"They come home."

"Is Thunder here?"

"I don't think so."

They heard shrieks and growls coming from two Night Furies near them, Astrid couldn't understand but Hiccup did:

" _What is that human doing here?_ "

" _It's a friend_ ," Toothless answered, " _don't bother._ "

" _Your brother has a mate? That's great!_ "

" _She is not my mate!_ " Hiccup answered while blushing.

" _She should, you're old enough to have children_."

" _You don't know anything_ ," Hiccup growled.

Night Furies could have children sooner than humans even if they lived longer than them. To them, thirteen was a normal age to have an offspring, Toothless who was the same age as him had one nest in the past. Yet Millie had told Hiccup that he would have to be fully grown to have children, and since she was the human one he would listen to her before any dragon about that matter. Plus it was true that Astrid wasn't his mate. But maybe one day...He didn't know but he liked to look at her and spend time with her, was it enough with humans?

"What's happening?"

"They ask who you are," he explained, "they are not mean, don't worry."

Indeed, the two Night Furies had no bad intentions toward Astrid, if she was with them, it probably meant she was okay and to them it was enough. Other Furies asked questions about that newcomers but none of them was malevolent toward the little group. They landed on the island soon enough, Astrid listened at the Night Furies' shrieks, it was marvelling to know there was so many of them in one place. The girl she once was would have felt threatened, but she felt like she belonged in that group of dragon and therefore she belonged on this island.

They landed near a tree, and the dragons took place in the grass, and the teenagers made a fire to keep themselves warm, something the dragons certainly didn't mind. Once it was done they went to Toothless to sleep under his wing, something they would do every night after lighting the fire to be protected from the wind. With that, the fire and their furs, they were fine in spite of the cold nights. They were soon asleep and though Astrid had nightmares again that night, they seemed a little less vivid. They all slept peacefully until the morning came.

The birds started to sing as the sun was rising, and Astrid woke up at their gentle songs. She was lying on the ground, still under Toothless's wing, under the tree they had chosen, and she blushed when she realised Hiccup and she had slept in each other's arms. Stormfly was sleeping beside them peacefully.

When they had landed yesterday, Astrid couldn't see anything because of the darkness, she had only vaguely seen the form of the isalnd. But now that the sun was rising and grazing her skin as well as the land, she could really see where she was and she smiled in delight. They were in a seemingly endless green meadow with small flowers sprinkled here and there, at the feet of mountains half covered with snow and forest of dark green fir tree, nature rebirthing at its feet. The morning sky was of pure blue without a single cloud, a fresh wind was blowing, making waves in the light green grass. The beauty of this wild but soothing place bewitched her.

Suddenly, she heard moves and saw a small herd of deers and does running from down the mountain, to run and play in the valley. Hiccup and Toothless woke up as well and the boy let out a joyful huff. He jumped on his feet and went to run at the deers' side, the wind of the morning blowing in his hair. Toothless flew above his brother in the pure blue morning sky, and Astrid couldn't take her eyes off this plain but also amazing picture: a wild boy running with other wild animals in the vivifying wind, in the middle of this green sea of grass, near that mountain which was gigantic, and a dragon protecting him from above. The boy was so small and so big at the same time, thin and scrawny but sprinting as if his feet were wings. It seemed like he was a spirit of nature, vivified by it.

Words could hardly describe what she felt by just watching him and Toothless, there was nothing that amazing happening, but the plain beauty of it was just gripping.

A big yawn from Stormfly who was waking up got a bit of her attention, and when she saw the Nadder at her side, she realized she was a lot like Hiccup, a small human living in the wild, with a dragon watching over her. She just had to embrace all this and maybe she would feel...Maybe she would feel free, maybe she could abandon herself in the sensation of wilderness.

Hiccup stopped running, turned round and smiled at Astrid from afar and she started to run as well, toward him, the animals ran away from her, but she couldn't care less, she just joined the dragon boy and they ran together. She was starting to feel as if she weighted nothing, as if she could have flown on her own, with the wind which seemed to want nothing but carry her in the air. She felt so light and she had the impression her feet were growing wings as well. As she was running with Hiccup, both of them smiling and laughing, she realized the animals around didn't really mind their presence anymore and were neither approaching nor running away. She felt almost like some spirit of nature herself, and when Hiccup took her hands and made her swirl around with him in the wind, she laughed out of joy, and it ended with them finally falling into the soft grass.

They both looked at the blue sky while catching their breath and Hiccup turned toward Astrid, watching her lying down with him and felt this strange dizzy sensation again. She was really beautiful, and she seemed to have brightened more than ever. She turned toward him too and they didn't say a single thing for a moment. A part of her wished to seize that moment, to lean toward him and kiss him, but something stopped her from it. It didn't matter, she was still happy. He approached her and rubbed his forehead against hers, she responded to the gesture, rubbing her forehead as well. A doe approached, searching for a spot where she could eat peacefully, she looked at the pair with some curiosity, before bowing her head and eat.

"I always liked does," she whispered to him. "They are so graceful."

"Graceful?"

"Yes...It's like...Watch the doe, you'll understand, or think of a swan. It's when you have gestures and a way of moving which is all gentle and beautiful. When you're not awkward. It's not like the beauty of a face, it's a beauty in the movement," she murmured softly in order not to frighten the doe.

"You're graceful too."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, when you don't watch what you do."

This left her thoughtful. She had always managed to look strong and tough, what if people never really had that view of her?

"What's wrong?"

"Does are graceful, but they aren't strong, they are preys."

Hiccup laughed slightly at this.

"Really? Watch!"

He jumped back on his feet and went to the doe who tensed. Hiccup jumped around her, letting out yelps which sounded quite like growls, blocking her each time she wanted to back off. Astrid was expecting the doe to wait for a male to rescue her, but the beast suddenly snapped and sent her paw toward Hiccup, making those turn very swiftly and violently judging by the way Hiccup fell when received one of those in the chest. Astrid let out a yelp of surprise, the doe went to trample on him, and Hiccup hardly had the time to roll away from the beast. Astrid took her axe, and with a yell, she attacked the doe who jumped away from Hiccup to avoid her blow.

The boy jumped again on his feet, let out a roar, showed his teeth while extending his arms. The doe hesitated and he backed away slowly, still growling way more ferociously than earlier. Astrid took his wrist and brought him back to her and then his furious air disappeared to show delight. The doe went away and minded her own business.

"Why did you do that?!"

"I want to show you. They can be bad. And it's badder when they have cubs."

"Worst, not badder," she corrected. "And we call their cubs 'fawn'."

"Fawn...But see, they are strong too!"

"I saw that. This one was tough!"

She really wouldn't have thought a doe who seemed like one of the most inoffensive animal ever could fight in a deadly way. Someone sloppier than Hiccup would have been killed...Her tribe had always taught her that physical strenght was very important...But her tribe knew nothing, after all Hiccup was a runt and he fought against strong men, Hel, she remembered the time he attacked them in the training area. Not only he bit Snotlout's face after tackling him but he was able to fight five opponents! She and the other teens had all the difficulty in the world to restrain him, and in the end they failed, it was Stoick who finally got him.

Toothless and Stormfly who had been playing together joined them and Astrid realized that Stormfly was also beautiful but tough. She petted the Nadder who nuzzled against her. The young girl went to her side, asking silently if she could get on her back. As Stormfly wasn't backing away, she decided to try and jumped on the Nadder's back. Stormfly didn't try to get her off her back and just gave her a joyful shriek. Astrid hugged her neck and felt more than ready for that new challenge : it would be the first time she would fly on a dragon's back without Hiccup.

The boy was on his brother's back again. He let out a shriek, telling Stormfly to be nice, the Nadder gently got off the ground and Astrid held on tight. It was strange to be alone on a dragon's back, but she liked it, the sensation to be free was more intense. She was at ease and soon found out that it felt almost natural, at first, she let the dragon decide of where they would go and admired the view. This island was quite big, with the forest and the mountains. On the top of one of the mountains, she saw a lake, the water was of a greenish shade of clear blue, contrasting with the deeper blue of the sea. Some black forms were flying aorund, and Astrid guessed they were all Night Furies. So many of them! Stoick would have probably gave everything he could to find this.

"Thunder live at that lake," Hiccup explained. "we will land soon."

"My, he didn't choose the worst place of the archipelago!"

"I think his lair is...Here!"

They landed on the side of the mountain where a cave was, it was large and when they came in they saw the ground was regularly burned like Night Furies usually did when they would go to sleep. Astrid couldn't help but notice that not only the cave was large but the traces of fire of the ground also was.

"Hiccup, I saw Night Furies weren't all of the same sizes. How big is your father?"

"Much bigger than Toothless. My mother is bigger too but not like father. Toothless is young, when Night Furies start to become really old, they reach _wraarra_."

"They reach what?"

"The second time they grow. They grow when they are children, after they stop for a lot of years and when they are much older they...Loose scales, and grow and makes new scales again."

"How much can they grow?"

"Big, very big. Like..."

He showed her a massive rock, and maybe it was because old habit dies hard, but Astrid couldn't help but be scared at the idea that a dragon as formidable and feared as a Night Fury could be of that size. Yet the cave was empty and the little group was about to leave it when another Night Fury came toward them. Astrid first believed it could be Thunder, but then she saw that the Night Fury was about Toothless's size. She jumped toward Toothless and Hiccup, giving them licks and cuddles which were happily returned. The boy went to Astrid, took her by the hand and made her approach.

"Astrid, this is my sister: Thinpaws."

Hiccup already told her about his sister, and Astrid saw she had big yellow eyes, the Night Fury sniffed and unlike Toothless who were hesitant before accepting her, Astrid was surprised when the Night Fury licked her face almost immediately and asked (almost demanded) for some petting from her by rubbing herself against her chest and arms. Astrid petted her, pretty amazed at this.

"Wow, she likes you!" Hiccup exclaimed, "She is usually wary of strangers."

Pretty much like any other dragons, she assumed Astrid was Hiccup's new mate and therefore she was happy for him and more than willing to accept that newcomer. Plus it was obvious the girl had left humans because she didn't really smell like them anymore; her scent was more like a mix of fresh grass, earth, sweat, ocean salt, smoke and blood. Thinpaws liked that smell, it was quite like her brother's one, except Hiccup's one was a little more salty like the sea, while the girl had a slightly sweeter scent.

While Astrid was still giving Thinpaws some affection, Hiccup and Toothless asked her what she was doing here.

" _I came to see if I could find a mate. It would be nice to try to have a nest._ "

Thinpaws was old enough to have cubs, but she had rejected all the males who wanted her until now, reluctant to have cubs for now. Hiccup hugged her and explained Astrid his sister would try to have babies. At this, Astrid kissed Thinpaws's forehead, and the dragon who never received a kiss looked at her with wide eyes. Hiccup had never really liked when Millie kissed him on the forehead because she had raspy lips, and it never thought of giving one to the members of his family. But when he saw Astrid do that, he couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to be kissed by her.

"Dragons don't do that."

"What?"

"Kiss. Millie did it to me. But dragons don't do that."

"Of course, you need lips for that. Humans do it a lot however, to children or when they love someone."

"Can you kiss me?"

At this, Astrid almost chocked and blushed. Hiccup's innocent stare was enough to tell her that he didn't know what he was asking for.

"Hum...You know, it's not...You can kiss a child freely but when you're grown, you don't kiss anyone, and more especially not the same way. At our age kissing would be more than a simple display of affection."

He was obviously puzzled.

"You kiss someone when you're in love with them, not when you're only friends."

"When you want to marry?"

Astrid was surprised he knew the concept of marriage.

"Millie told me humans marry, they don't just mate."

"Yes, when you're in love, that person is very special, more than a friend...If you're very in love with them and want to have children with them. That's when you marry."

"Marry, it's much more than mating?"

"Yes, you live with the other person every days, you raise the children together...You form a family, it's not like Night Furies, the fathers are supposed to stay as well as the mothers until the kids are really grown. Sometimes, if you aren't in love anymore, you break the marriage. My parents are still married."

"You lived with them?"

Astrid nodded and felt her chest was aching. Hiccup felt they were reaching a touchy subject.

"And when humans marry they can kiss?"

"Yes, but before also. But you don't kiss someone you love like a child. A kiss on the forehead is something you do to a child or another member of the family, but when you're in love, you kiss on the lips. A kiss on the forehead or on the cheek doesn't mean you're in love."

He was still a little puzzled by this, but he guessed he would understand with time. He wished to kiss Astrid but he felt it was better to understand how that stuff worked first. The girl headed toward the exit and looked at the land. It was really beautiful. Thunder had choosen his home high in the mountain, close to the top of it. They were standing at the edge of the pit, and from this point, there was nothing standing between this spot and the ground of the valley. Hiccup went at her side, shrieked to Toothless who rolled his eyes and after that he turned to Astrid.

"Let's jump!"

"What?"

"Here," he clarified while showing the pit.

"You know if you want to die my axe would be a faster way to end your sufferings."

He laughed out loud at this but Astrid wasn't, she guessed he wanted Toothless to catch him back before he could touch the ground.

"Come on, it's a game! I did it already."

"Great! You do it alone."

"Oh come on! You can throw things at wild boars but not jump?"

"There are stupid, risky and fun games that can kill you, and there is plain unfunny suicid. Learn to make the difference."

"Are you scared?"

"No, I just don't want to die."

He made a slight snort to show he wasn't convinced and with one last smirk, he just jumped in the emptiness and Astrid couldn't help but feel her gut tighten while watching him fall simply. Toothless and Thinpaws followed immediately behind and though it seemed long to Astrid, they returned with Hiccup on Toothless's back, looking triumphant. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"You're showing off so hard, I swear."

"Showing off?"

She had to explain him and Hiccup blushed and protested, Astrid teased him a little about it.

"Oh yes look at me, I'm the dragon-boy who ride Night Furies and can jump in pits, bow down before my craziness!"

"Oh come-on! I'm not like that."

"Hum...You still have a dramatic side."

He didn't ask what dramatic meant, because they heard some Night Furies fighting, two of them were clawing and biting at each other while flying, and Astrid was impressed by those two shadows moving so swiftly in the wind, the two dragons hid the sun and their shadows were cast upon them, and when it happened, both Astrid and Hiccup felt a cold shiver, like a foreshadowing. Yet the dragons fighting weren't paying attention to them, as Hiccup soon noticed, they were just wrestling for Thinpaws's attention. The female watched them with interest, and Astrid couldn't help but remember how males of her tribe would often fought for the love of a female.

"Are we gonna wait for Thunder here?"

"No, visit is fine but staying in his lair when he is not here...He would be angry. At you and Stormfly more."

They left the place, Thinpaws didn't join them, she just promised to retrieve them once she would have found a male of her liking. The rest of the group spent the rest of the day searching for food, playing, and finally they found a spot where they could sleep. Astrid and Hiccup made their fire and like she would often do, she started to tell him stories and legends. Millie had told him some in the past, but she had never been a really good story-teller, Astrid was however.

The feral boy loved to hear Astrid tell him stories about the Gods, he wasn't sure he really believed everything she said but she seemed to be sure of herself. Right now, she was telling him about the way Thor's hammer had been stolen and how he had tried to get it back with the help of Loki, that weird god who amused Hiccup a lot. He thought again of the chief of the tribe who reminded him of Thor with his eyes chich seemed to throw lightnings. If he had to compare Hooligan to gods, he would have compared that man to Thor, Ruff to Loki and Astrid...maybe to Freya, the goddess of beauty. She told him stories for a big part of the evening before they fell asleep in the warmth of each other's arms.

 **So the Dragons' Princess is born! It makes me think of a fan art I really like: art/Mononoke-Au-522222511**

 **I'll try to post the next chapter soon, Thunder will appear as well as other characters who won't be very friendly.**

 **Don't hesitate to review!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Hi everybody ! I'm sorry for the time it took to update, as I explained in the next chapter of Rider and the Beast, I hurt my wrist recently and had to stop writing for some days. Anyway I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.**

 **Important : remember the group of rogue Night Furies who were mentionned by Hiccup when Astrid meet Stormfly. Those Ocs were requested to me by** _ **the core of justice**_ **.**

Next morning, they decided they would try to find Thunder again after getting some food. Thinpaws was courted again by some males and some females approached Toothless as well; that's how Stormfly, Hiccup and Astrid were left alone. Hiccup proposed her to enjoy the hot springs on the island. After a nice walk through the wood, Astrid was elated to see warm waters surrounded by green grass and flowers. When Hiccup was about to undress, she asked him not to, explaining she wasn't used to boys getting naked around her, as humans didn't like to undress before one another.

"Why is that?"

"We are always clothed because of the cold, so I guess we aren't used to be naked around each other anymore. It's considered wrong to go around naked, only children swimming can undress freely."

"Why children can?"

"Because it's not the same, children are...They aren't in age to do the things adults do."

"Mate you mean?"

"Uh, yeah."

He just shrugged, if she didn't want him to undress, fine, he wouldn't. Still, he couldn't see what would be so wrong about being naked. Once they had swam in the pond back to Berk, and he had kept his clothes only because they would have been cold otherwise. Yet here it wasn't really cold as spring was getting warmer, and the water was hot. He just took off his fur and she kept only her top and her pants to swim.

They started to swim and Hiccup soon splashed her for fun, and Astrid retaliated playfully. A big wave suddenly submerged them and they fell in the water. When they got up, they saw Thinpaws and Toothless who had returned and decided to join the fun.

"Come on!" Yelled Hiccup.

They both splashed the dragons and after a long time playing, they found themselves quite tired and decided to leave the waters. A fire was quickly made and they dragons breathed a warm air on the humans to dry them. Thinpaws happily announced that she found a male with whom she accepted to mate. Hiccup was happy to hear that she would have babies soon. Toothless already had an offspring in the past, and Hiccup remembered them fondly. Like most male Night Furies, he had taken care of them for only the first months, and Hiccup had gladly helped. Now Toothless would simply visit them from time to time. Speaking of which:

" _Is Lava around?_ "

" _I think so, I caught her scent in the mountains. I think I'll pay her a visit._ "

" _I'll come with you, I want to see the babies again..Toothless, you never miss them?_ "

" _Sometimes, but my place isn't with them._ "

Hiccup knew Toothless loved his children, but in the way male Night Furies would. He couldn't help but think of what Astrid told him: human fathers live with their children. When he was younger, he had regretted at times that Thunder wouldn't live with them. The thought of the children he could father one day struck the young boy: if he ever had an offspring, would he let their mother handle them and visit only once in a while? He wanted to remain a dragon, but for once he truly understood why his mother insisted on him embracing his humanity. There were things he wouldn't be able to handle like a dragon...

"Hiccup?"

He turned toward Astrid and couldn't help but blush.

"Toothless will visit his cubs."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, want to come with us?"

"Of course. Where are they?"

"We don't know. We'll find their mother, Lava."

Once they were dry and ready to leave, they flew away, Toothless leading them toward the place where he smelled her scent. As they were flying, they suddenly heard distant cries coming from the mountain and now that she was a little more experienced, Astrid could recognize cries from a Night Fury. Other roars followed and she heard all her companions growl at this. Both Toothless and Thinpaws plunged, followed closely by Stormfly. Hiccup growled like crazy.

"Hiccup, what's happening?"

"You'll see."

As they approached, Astrid saw a group of four Night Furies circling around a smaller one, who was probably the same size as Toothless and Thinpaws. When they landed, the three dragon and the feral boy growled at them and Astrid immediately took out her axe. The two smaller were still bigger than Toothless and Thinpaws, the third was even bigger, maybe twice their size but the fourth...Oh it was even more massive than a Monstruous Nightmare! Taking advantage of the distraction, the cornered one went to them and snuggled against Toothless.

Hiccup was angry, really angry, they were doing it again! It was them: the Furies who hated humans, those his father chased away from this island. They knew they had nothing to do here, they were defying Thunder by coming! This group was being led by this dragon named Starlight, the bigger one, who was the mother of the three others. Only her daughter Summer would show mercy, mostly toward human children as her motherly instincts were strong, but otherwise...He growled at the one named Darkness whose black eyes could hardly be distinguished from the rest of his body at times. That one could be vicious and he was the one who wanted to see Hiccup dead only because he was human. The fourth, Asger, had a particular distate for Toothless.

"Hiccup, who are they?"

"Remember the Night Furies who hates humans and wants to kill me? It's them."

She frowned and looked at them with spite. Hiccup knew what they were doing: they were trying to forcefully recruit another Night Fury in their group. It wasn't the first time they would do that. It meant they prepared something against humans, and it was something big. The one they targeted was Lava, the female with whom Toothless had his only one nest a year ago and whom they had been seeking. Hiccup shrieked:

" _Leave her alone! She is not yours to take!_ "

" _You don't command us, human! It's a shame you're still alive..._ " Darkness roared

" _Silence!_ "

Starlight's order was effective as no one uttered a sound, she advanced toward Hiccup who drew out his sword, yet she didn't attack him.

" _I love your mother greatly and I respect your father. But that love and respect has limits. I already told you, don't try to go against us._ "

" _My father told you not to come here,_ " Hiccup snarled.

" _We won't let you take other furies to continue that massacre!"_ growled Thinpaws.

" _Who is this one?"_ The mother-dragon asked.

Starlight started to approach Astrid, but the one who used to protect human children, Summer, stepped immediately between them.

" _Mother, she is too young..._ "

" _She will soon be a woman Summer..._ "

" _You don't approach her!_ " Stormfly roared. " _This human is mine! Doyou hear me, you hideous freak?!_ "

With that the Nadder drew out a protective wing around Astrid. One of them, Asger, emitted a sinister growl.

" _And what do you think you can do? You're only young things, almost cubs compared to us, with only those two scrawny humans."_

" _Remember that it's those scrawny humans you fear so much, Asger."_

The dragon growled at Toothless. Asger was the fastest of his group, in fact he was very fast even for a Night Fury, Toothless was one of the few who could seriously rivalize with him even though Asger was bigger and older. Just like the rest of his family he hated and feared humans.

" _Enough, I don't want a war against other furies,"_ Starlight stated. She looked at Hiccup: _"I can tolerate you, human. And I guess this female human here is yours. I'll propose you a deal: you join us, all of you and not only I let you and your female live, but I won't force any other furies to join us_. _Otherwise, we will have to fight._ "

" _I only take orders from my mother, Starlight. No one else commands me._ "

" _Same for us_ ," Toothless growled, " _we won't be under your paw._ "

" _And those humans will live, whether you like it or not,_ " Stormfly added.

" _That's sad for you. We could do great things together, why can't you understand?_ "

" _Massacres aren't great. We do what's needed to survive, but we have no wish for more_ ," Toothless snorted. " _Leave now, you're strangers here, this is our father's territory."_

As if Toothless had been heard by the gods, a loud roar was heard and even the group of bigger Night Furies tensed at this. Hiccup smiled however: Thunder! He went to Astrid and passed his arms around her waist, because when their father would come, they would need him to know she was at their side.

"Don't worry," he whispered.

And a big shadow was thrown over them. A big dragon, as tall as Starlight and even broader, landed near them with a roar that was almost deafening. Astrid understood why he was called Thunder, his eyes were yellow just like his daughter. He threw a glance at his children and immediately understood Stormfly, Lava and Astrid were with them. He growled loudly at the invasive Furies.

" _Get away from here, and leave my children alone!_ "

" _They are the one interfering with us_ " Darkness growled, " _your error of a human son especially_."

A big plasma blast was shot at him and Darkness roared in pain. Starlight fired at Thunder but the dragon dodged the blow and threw himself at Starlight's neck. Immediately, Summer went to defend her mother but Stormfly shot spikes at her. Summer dodged easily but Stormfly managed to jump on her. Then it was Toothless who attacked Asger, throwing himself at him. His opponent didn't try to dodge, he ran toward Toothless and the two meet in a storm of claws and fangs.

Darkness was about to defend his brother but Lava and Thinpaws lunged at him, one biting his wing and the other attacking his neck. He pushed Lava away; Thinpaws released his wing to jump on his back and started to attack his eyes. Darkness retaliated by rolling himself on the ground, crushing the female under his weight. Thinpaws's air left her lungs but when Darkness tried to bit her, Lava attacked, and the two females clawed and bit like crazy at the bigger male who was retaliating with all the strength and the violence he could oppose to the swiftness and rage from the females.

At the same time Summer was fighting Stormfly; Astrid sent her axe at her but the Fury sent it away with a whip of her tail. She rose in the air, not wanting the young human to be hurt, and she and Stormfly continued their fight in the sky, leaving Astrid powerless to help her dragon. So instead, the girl ran toward her axe, grabbed it and threw herself at Darkness who was roughly biting Lava's paw. Remembering what Gobber taught her, she sent her axe in his wing. He roared and hit Astrid with his tail, sending her against the rocks. This was enough of a distraction for Lava to free herself and for Thinpaws to throw a plasma blast in his head. Though it didn't burn him, it blinded him temporarly and made his eyes bleed. This sent him on a furious rampage and he shot plasma blast at every noises he could hear.

Hiccup had thrown himself on Starlight's back; she was clawing at his father chest and Thunder was biting her strong neck. The boy pluged his sword where her wing and shoulder meet, making her roar in pain. Due to Starlight's thick scales and thick skin, he wasn't able to do as much damage as he wished, yet it would hurt. He stabbed her once again but he was hit by something big which sent him on the ground painfully. He only had the time to see Asger over him, about to burn him when another shadow threw itself at his attacker. Hiccup saw Toothless biting Asger's neck with the rage of a demon. Hiccup stabbed the dragon's tail and Asger whipped it at him furiously. The boy was hit hard and his body rolled on the ground. He only had the time to catch a rock before finding himself hanging at the edge of the cliff. He yelped in fear, and hauled himself eagerly back on the ground. One wrong move and he was dead! His nails gripped the earth and the rock as he made his way back. Once he was on the ground again, he looked at the fight.

The feral boy saw Astrid who was standing up after getting hit by Darkness's tail and though he wanted to help Toothless, he went to his sister and Astrid. If they proceeded to take down Darkness, they could all get together to attack Asger. He barely avoided one of his blasts and before he could reach the fight they saw Summer's unconscious body falling on the edge of the cliff, only to make a roll and fall in the emptiness.

Starlight and Thunder had been fighting against one another since the beginning. After Hiccup had been thrown off Starlight's shoulder, they had flown in the sky, shooting plasma's blast, biting and clawing at each other. They were like two gigantic shadows as black as the night swirling in the sky. Thunder was aiming for her wings, seeing his human son had hurt her there, it was for the best to finish his work. She bit his neck strongly, making him bleed, but his claws thrusted in the wound made by his son, making her emit a shriek which was heard all over the island. She sent her paw violently in his head, and he was taken off balance, something Starlight would have taken advantage of it she hadn't seen her daughter falling unconscious.

She plunged to save Summer who hadn't been made unconscious by Stormfly but by one of Darkness's plasma blasts when he had been shooting like crazy after being blinded. Asger saw the situation was turning against them, he managed to throw Toothless off of him and against the rocks, making his opponent dizzy. He jumped to Darkness, helping him to get away from his adversaries and guiding him away from the fight to help their mother to get their sister back. Thunder pursued them down, and while Starlight succeeded to save her daughter, she got shot by Thunder violently one last time.

" _Don't you come back!_ " He roared.

"Y _our family will pay for defying me!_ "

The group left and Thunder roared like crazy. If his children had been younger, he would have continued to fight and killed them all, but they were now old enough to have their own battle. While he wouldn't tolerate other dragons to attack them on his own territory, he couldn't protect them forever and outside his island they had to fight for themselves. The big Night Fury went back up where Hiccup was checking on his siblings' wounds with Lava; Astrid was taking care of Stormfly. The Nadder surely put up a good fight but she would have been beaten by Summer if Darkness hadn't shot his sister by mischance.

"You did good my beauty, she was big, you did good."

A roar made her turn round to see Thunder coming toward them. She couldn't help but lean against her dragon when the beast approached. Hiccup ran toward his adoptive father.

" _Father, please don't eat her!_ "

" _I'll do as wish._ "

" _But..."_

Thunder roared at Hiccup before pushing him out of the way. Though he hadn't been pushed away too roughly, Hiccup knew it wasn't in his best interest to interfere; and it wouldn't be good for Astrid and Stormfly either if he angered the bigger dragon. Thunder sniffed Stormfly first, and the Nadder remaine unmoving, sumitting to the powerful dragon. Yet Hiccup didn't fear much for Stormfly, she was only a dragon like another to his father, and she obviosuly knew how to behave. The big Night Fury passed before her, and went to Astrid. That's when Hiccup's guts tightened. Toothless was also watching with he wasn't naturally cruel, Thunder wasn't known for his tenderness. He had told Hiccup once that even though he had accepted him in the family with no problems, he would have never thought of rescuing him like Calla did. Would he care enough about him not to kill Astrid? When he came on this island, he was sure it would be the case, but now that he had seen his expression while advancing toward his friend, he wasn't so sure anymore.

While both his sons watched him with wariness, Thunder was looking down at the frightened girl. She was scrawny just like his human son, he could truly kill her in one blow. Usually, when humans tried to come on his island, he would chase them away mercilessly, and having one here didn't please him much. Yet she didn't seem like a threat, and honestly, there would be no real point killing her. Just like Thinpaws, he appreciated the fact she didn't smell like usual humans. Also, she fought at their side, and if his sons accepted her among them, then he had no reason to deny them a companion. Maybe Hiccup intended to have an offspring. He turned away from her and walked away. Though there were warmer welcomings, it at least meant he accepted them around. He flew away then, making sure there were no threats around anymore. Astrid went back to Hiccup.

"What happened? Why were they attacking this dragon?"

"They try force...to force other Furies to join them."

"Join them for what?"

"Attack humans. They don't take food, they just kill."

"Yeah, now I remember: they do it because humans killed members of their family. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, and you?"

"Just a little banged up, but I'll be fine. Stormfly is wounded, however. It's her wing."

Hiccup went to the Nadder and saw that even if her wing wasn't broken but it had been bitten ferociously It would take some days before she could actually fly again. Toothless's was also hurt, his stomach had been clawed at badly. The humans and Thinpaws left them to fly away and find some herbs in order to heal their wounds. It took them a long time, but they eventually found what was needed. Astrid the comfort of her village while they searched; with Gothi around, it was easy to have someone's wound or disease treated. Yet the shaman wouldn't have helped dragons. When they were back, Astrid immediately went to Stormfly. Hiccup looked at Toothless: he and Lava were rubbing their snouts. Once again, he thought of the marriage thing. It would be sweet indeed, to have a female which whom he would share his life in addition of having children with her. But he shook away those thoughts. For now, he had to think of their survival, Starlight and her family would find them again. He went to Stormfly as well, she seemed to be in a worst state than his brother, and Astrid wasn't used to heal a dragon. The Nadder grunted and growled the whole time, but stayed still the whole time.

Once they were done with her, Astrid and he approached Lava and Toothless, but suddenly the female growled at Astrid. The two humans were startled at this, but they both understood when they saw small black forms emerging from between their front paws. Astrid was in awe: baby Night Furies! They melted so much into their parents' blackness that they hadn't seen them to begin with! Hiccup smiled and went at them. There were three of them, and they greeted Hiccup warmly. Lava didn't object to Astrid and Stormfly's presence, after all they fought together, yet she still preferred the human to keep some safe distance. Hiccup and the dragons reassured her that she had nothing to fear and that she was a faithful friend. Lava eventually accepted to give her a chance, and Hiccup extended his hand to her.

Astrid took it and approached the little dragons who were climbing on Hiccup playfully. Lava was still eying her carefully. They were incredibly cute with their big shiny eyes, small paws and tiny tails and Astrid couldn't help but wish to pet them. She cautiously kneeled next to Hiccup. The cubs paid attention to her and looked quite wary, but it was to be expected. Their uncle rubbed his head against Astrid's to show she was a friend, and their father did the same. Though they were reassured by this display, the babies were still a little intimidated. They sniffed her while keeping a safe distance and the young girl allowed them to take their time.

Hiccup went to Toothless to take care of his wounded belly, leaving Astrid alone with the cubs. One of them felt bold and dared to put his paws on her knee to take in her scent, then he played with a strand of blond hair. Astrid chuckled at this, they were incredibly cute, the little one playing with her hair was wagging his tail with enthusiasm. She gently petted him, still carefully keeping an eye on the mother in case she changed her mind and decided she didn't like having a young human near her children.

The bold one eventually jumped on her knees, and though he was still fidgety, it seemed that he liked her. She laughed, and looked at Hiccup who was cuddling with the two others. It was obvious he loved them; humans with dragon babies...Who would have thought? It reminded her of her stupefaction when she saw his face for the first time. Her surprise upon seeing this! But then, that innocent scene was ruined by Vikings who captured them...It came into her mind that if Thunder had been here that day, they would have been killed on spot. She heard him roar and looked up. He was perched on a rock above them, the master of the island towering over his territory after a battle...

"It seems like your father is not one to taunt," she murmured when Hiccup came back.

"No, and mother too is strong. She defended me against many things. I'll introduce her to her as well."

"Did you really think he was going to kill me?"

"I was scared, he looked angry. But with mother, I have no fear."

They continued to play with the cubs and once evening came, they made a fire. They would stay here, not only to help Lava to protect the cubs, but also to let Stormfly and Toothless rest. Thinpaws yawned and put her head on Hiccup's laps while he was leaning against Toothless. He petted her gently; Astrid was looking at the fire absentmindedly, one of the cubs was on her laps.

"Hiccup, you never wondered who your real parents are?"

His face darkened slightly and he just shrugged.

"I am a dragon."

"I know, but aren't you curious? You don't remember them? Where were you when your mother took you?"

"I don't remember and I don't know where mother took me."

"Maybe you could ask her."

He shrugged again. All his life he had wanted dragons to see him as one of them and that's why he rejected his humanity as much as possible, even if he didn't hate humans. Yet he had to admit he had wondered at times if he looked like his real mother or father, if they knew he got taken or if they were already dead.

"My name, it was given by my parents...I think."

"Really?"

He nodded and explained that when Calla took him, he was already old enough to say his own name and his mother let him keep it.

"So Hiccup isn't a name given by the dragons...I guess it's logical, it's quite common among humans...You know, I understand you consider yourself a dragon, but you're also a human, you can't always ignore that. Would it be so bad to be human? To be like me?"

"I...It's not...I don't hate humans, but I don't want to be one. It's...I can't live with those who kills dragons."

"But if humans stopped killing dragons? If peace was possible?"

"I don't know...Your ways are strange."

"It's true it can seems strange, but your ways seemed strange to me as well. When you showed me Gronkles who had to behave in a particular ways around their chief for example."

It was during their first days in the wild, he had showed her Gronkles, they were social dragons who lived in group and they behaved in different ways around the chief of the group and his female.

"You know, in the end, I wonder if Vikings and dragons are so different. Males fight for females a lot, we are both defending our territories or fighting to have more, we both don't like when another try to get what is ours, we have codes, and there are tyrants among humans and dragons...Now it's not all the same, but it's not as different as we think."

"But aren't you happy here?" Asked he. "Can't you stay with me?"

"I don't know...I could for some times, but being wild all my life...I discovered that world and I like it but I don't think I'm made to live in it. I'm human, I can't ignore it."

This made his guts tighten. Astrid put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will have to see humans again. I need to check up on Ruff, and...even if I deserted Berk, I can't just let those Furies attack my island."

"I want to see Ruffnutt too."

He gave her a shy smile, knowing he wasn't giving her entire satisfaction. He wanted both, he wanted to satisfy her, and he wanted to stay a dragon. He would have to choose.

"Hiccup, if there was a way for humans to accept dragons, if we could bring peace, would you give it a try? Would you at least try to give my world a chance?"

"...Yes."

 **Hope you liked it! As you guessed, we will see Ruffnutt soon, let's hope she is fine. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think ^^**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Hi everybody ! Finally the new chapter is here, and there will be another surprise in this one, of another kind. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, a Guest asked if I read her comments, yes I do read all the comments, but I can't answer if you review as a guest. But I do read them all indeed, and I'm always tahnkful for constructive reviews.**

 **Enjoy!**

Though they decided to go to Berk, the little group didn't leave Night Fury's island immediately; they all needed to rest and heal, Stormfly especially. It seemed that Starlight and her family listened to Thunder, they weren't seen or heard of after the fight. The master of the island would still take the time to scout the surroundings carefully, he didn't want any other furies to be taken or attacked by the scavenging family. The day after the attack, they got an unexpected visitor, but a friendly one this time:

" _Mom, I'm fine!_ "

" _I'm checking your wounds, Toothless!_ "

Hiccup and Astrid laughed as they watched Calla stubbornly nursing her son, and Toothless being as stubborn while trying to hide his wounds. The young girl still couldn't understand their langage, yet she didn't really need it to understand what was happening. Calla had acepted Astrid without difficulties, though she hadn't shown herself as enthusiast as Thinpaws. She was truly happy to see Hiccup with a mate, yet she needed time to make her mind about the young girl. Once she was done with Toothless, she went to the cubs who were playing near them. She knew those were Toothless' cubs, and she loved them but her bond with them wasn't very strong.

In her life, Calla had several nests, and it could seem sad but she didn't have the same affection for all her cubs. She had defended all her offspring with every once of rage she got, she had raised them all with devotion, but dragons often had one nest in particular which they preffered. Toothless, Thinpaws and Hiccup were her favourites for sure. Once her other nests had left her, she wouldn't take the time to protect them anymore, the devotion would fade. But with those three, it was different, the devotion and care wouldn't fade away. Maybe it was because Thinpaws was living half of the time with her, and her presence reminded her of her brothers as well. Maybe because this nest had been special with a human child: in order to survive, a very strong bond had been necessary. Whatever the reason, it was as such, and she wouldn't let Starlight hurt her children. She knew this dragon well, they had often fought side by side, often played together as well. Yet since she had lost her siblings because of humans she had grown mad.

She remembered how one day, Starlight's son tried to kill her Hiccup. It was that very day that their friendship started to die. After Thunder and Calla stopped him, Starlight had simply said: _You shouldn't keep him, a human has nothing do with dragons. He is better off dead_. Calla never forgave those words, Starlight had kept respect for her, but Calla didn't. The way this family attacked humans viciously disgusted her as well. Thankfully, other dragons had often fought them off in order to stop them from trying to destroy villages.

When night had fallen, Calla went to Thunder. The bigger dragon was protecting this place well, but it wasn't enough.

" _Thunder, we need to stop them at once._ "

" _Calla, it's the children's war, not ours. We can't continue to protect them all the time if we want them to grow up_."

" _What if they die? Don't pretend that your fatherly instinct didn't take over when they were attacked!_ "

" _I won't let anyone kill them under my eyes! But they need to become strong._ "

" _They are! But they need our help, Starlight and her family are stronger. And she could threaten Toothless's cubs too. My decision is made: I won't let Starlight hurt them, I'll fight to death if necessary. Now if you want to let us die while you stay here, it's your choice._ "

She started to leave but suddenly, he grabbed her tail gently in his jaw, stopping her. She looked back at him and her gaze softened when she saw the way he looked at her. Dragons didn't have relationships like humans had, Calla wouldn't have settled with Thunder, yet it didn't mean there were no feeling between them. She stayed with him for the rest of the night.

Hiccup, Astrid, Stormfly and Toothless only left after some days. Before their departure, Thunder went to his human son one last time:

" _Be careful son, if you return to the humans, never forget who you were._ "

" _I won't, I promise_."

His son hugged him one last time before they parted. He still felt doubts over all this, but at least they would know what became of Ruffnutt, he was glad to see the girl again. One the way toward Berk, Astrid stole some clothes in a village, a shirt and some pants she put instead of those if furs, keeping only the small coat and skirt she crafted. It was starting to get too warm to be entirely dressed in furs, lighter clothes would be better at least for daytime. She would only put the rest of her furs during night. It didn't take more than a few days for them to reach Berk, and when she started to see the familiar surroundings, Astrid started to feel slightly sick. Maybe it was the memories of what happened before she ran away, or maybe it was the guilt for her friends and family.

"Hiccup, let's land in the forest first...To Raven's Point."

"Yeah, good idea. You okay?"

"Yeah...I'm nervous."

It wasn't all, but she didn't want to speak about it. When they went at Raven's Point however, she felt a little better. Hiccup smiled, it was here they used to meet when their friendship started...He felt quite at home here. He looked at Astrid who seemed thoughtful.

"What do we do?" Asked he?

"I'll go to the village and try to spot Ruffnutt...Let me go alone, stay with Stormfly and Toothless..."

"Why alone?"

"It's better, if we are too many, we'll get spotted. And I know the village more than you do, you'd be of no use there."

His eyes narrowed, he sensed something was wrong with her and he could guess what. She approached him and took his hands.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"You don't have to be alone."

"I know...I'm not. But just for this time, let me do this myself."

He nodded and let her leave, stopping Stormfly from following her. While she was gone he went to search for some foods with the dragons, hoping all the while that she would be fine.

While she was progressing through the forest, Astrid couldn't help but think of everything that happened. The attack from the Berserkers, the three men who tried to rape her, the way she killed them with Hiccup and Toothless, the blood on Hiccup's lips, the way Stoick and her tribe accused her of treason...She was torn between many feelings while thinking of all this, those memories didn't fade while she away, no, but on Berk those were more vivid. She tried to push those away, she had to focus: finding Ruffnutt was all that mattered right now.

When she reached the border of the woods, she grew more careful, she could be easily sighted. She caught a glimpse of her village and her guts tightened slightly. Some people were taking care of their business, but Ruffnutt was nowhere to be seen. It was the beginning of the afternoon, her friend would be going to dragon training soon...If she was still free.

Astrid stayed behind bushes but went closer to the training arena. From afar, she saw a group of teens and recognized her friends. Ruffnutt was among them! She was fighting with her brother and though their quarrel was often annoying Astrid before, this time she was happy to see tat everything was normal. Yet now she had to reach her, how would she do that? The others were too close, and even if Ruff had been alone, she couldn't approach the arena like that, someone could see her. She hid behind a tree and waited the right moment. There was an instant when Ruff looked toward her direction while the others were minding their own business and Astrid tried to give her a sign, but Ruff didn't notice her.

At a moment, Ruffnutt was just watching Tuffnutt who was sparing against Snotlout, yelling to encourage one of them, and Astrid waived her arm in the distance to make Ruff notice her. This time she saw Astrid, the dragon-girl got down again behind the bushes in order not to be seen and waited. Ruffnutt immediately went toward her, claiming that she had to answer nature's call so the boys wouldn't follow her. She hid behind the bushes as well, at Astrid's side, her eyes wide in surprise. Her astonishment didn't lessen as Astrid hugged her tightly. The embrace had been too short for Ruff to return it, yet it was a lot for Astrid!

"Astrid! What are you doing here?"

"I had to check up on you, and speak to you as well."

"Are you alright? What are those clothes?"

"Ah...I made those in fur, and I stole the shirt and pants. Ruff, no one suspects you?"

"No, but there is something I..."

They heard Gobber calling Ruff in the distance, interrupting her. Astrid told her to join her at Raven's point before sunset and left before Ruff could finish her sentence. She leaped away through the bushes while Gobber found Ruffnutt and told her dragon training would begin soon. The girl followed him but with no motivation at all she wanted to see Astrid, she wondered if Hiccup and Toothless were here as well. Probably.

"I hope you'll do better this time," Gobber told her.

"I'll try."

She was probably now the worst trainee of the five students, but she _couldn't_ do well. After meeting the dragon-boy and his Night Fury, she couldn't help but feel guilty each time she would fight against dragons. Dragon training seemed even longer than usual today.

Time passed slowly at Raven's Point as well. Astrid and Hiccup waited for the sunset with impatience, they discussed the situation, and Astrid took time to develop Hiccup's vocabulary a little to kill the time. They both agreed that Ruff being okay was a great thing, yet their problems were far from being solved. They didn't know where their enemies could be, and by coming here, they were endangering their friend again. When the sun started to come down and the shadows grew bigger, they paid more attention to their surroundings. They soon heard rustles through the bushes and saw Ruff advancing toward their spot, yet they were surprised when they saw that Tuffnutt was right behind her. Hiccup growled and got on guards, and Astrid also took a defensive stance when she saw him. She didn't know what Ruffnutt was doing, but she wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

"Guys! Here you are! See, I told you they would be here, Tuff!"

"Wow..." was all Tuff managed to say.

Her brother stopped moving when he saw them. First, Hiccup, Stormfly and Toothless scared him, they looked ready to attack, and he was reminded that he was dealing with dangerous beings. And Astrid...He had always been a little scared by the girl because she could kick ass easily, but now! She looked as wild as the boy, with her coarse clothes of fur, the dirt on her and the dragons with her. But more of all, something seemed to have changed in her.

"Ruff, what is he doing here?!" She yelled.

"Well...I kind of let it slip out..."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Tuff was boasting, always saying that he saved me from Hiccup and I was kind of angry so...I told him it was staged..."

Hiccup was baffled at this, she seriously did that? He had understood already that Ruff wasn't really smart, but that was taking it to another level! Astrid however wasn't very surprised.

"Well, I guess it's a miracle you didn't tell the entire village sooner. Who else knows about this?"

"No one," she assured.

"Good."

"But what happened to you? I mean you look like...Well..."

Tuff let his sentence trail and his eyes alternated between Astrid and Hiccup. Though she would have usually been annoyed at him, right now she couldn't help but feel weird at the way he looked at her. She had been sighted by humans while being with Hiccup; though she didn't know what they had said about her, she had seen in their eyes that they saw her as a strange being. It didn't really get to her, she assumed it was normal for people who had never known her before to wonder who was this strange girl on a dragon's back. Yet here, it was Tuffnutt, they knew each other since long. Why was he looking at her as if she was some kind of strange creature?

"Tuff, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, I understand why they call you dragons' princess."

"Dragons' Princess?"

"Yeah, that the name other tribes gave you," he explained. "So it's true you have a Nadder?"

Maybe it was the happiness to introduce Stormfly to her friends which made her anger drop, or maybe it was pride as well, but she grinned.

"That's Stormfly, she allows me to ride on her back. And Tuff, this is Hiccup and Toothless."

The dragon-boy looked at him with some suspicions but Ruffnutt assured him he was fine, and Astrid came to the conclusion that Tuffnutt would probably not betray his sister. One could have thought that the boy would try to win their trust and then bring them to the village, but the boy had neither the wits nor the malice to do such a thing. She gave a nod to Hiccup and Toothless and they both relaxed. Stormfly was watching the two humans with curiosity.

"So...you're not gonna bit my face off?" Asked Tuff, quite uneasy at the way Hiccup silently stared at him.

"No," Hiccup assured, "Ruffnutt is my friend. I won't hurt her brother."

"See, I told you he is nice," she said to her brother.

Hiccup and Ruffnutt smiled to each other. Toothless came to sniff her brother and kind of liked the fishy smell he possessed, yet he would still keep an eye on him. Tuffnutt was about to say something but was interrupted by Astrid:

"Guys, how...How are my parents?"

"Well...I don't really know, they often look sad, and..."

"What, Ruff?"

"Some people said they are bad parents and stuff like that."

"Did Stoick punish them?"

"No, he doesn't consider them responsible, but some people does."

Astrid bit her lips. She was aware that what happened would be bad for her parents, that their reputation would suffer of it...But she couldn't stay in prison. Anyway, in prison or not, her parents would have been blamed for having a daughter who befriended an enemy. Guilt was eating her up, she was still sure that seeing the world for herself instead of believing misconceptions had been a necessity, yet her parents were suffering...As if he was sensing her sadness, Hiccup rubbed his head against hers, earning a slight smile in return. Suddenly, the two dragons growled and before any humans could do anything, they threw themselves through the bushes. The teenagers heard two high-pitched screams. Then, they saw Toothless and Stormfly dragging Snotlout and Fishlegs. Both looked terrified, Snotlout shrieked when he saw Hiccup standing above him.

"You brought those two?!" Astrid roared.

"No, we didn't," Ruffnutt answered, "and I seriously hope they have a good explanation!"

"Please don't kill us!" Yelled Fishlegs.

"I'm not gonna kill you Fishlegs, though you'd rather explain quickly what you two are doing here!" Astrid roared.

"We just wanted to know what the twins were doing, they seemed weirder than usual," Snotlout uttered in a breath.

"Yeah, we thought they were preparing some stupid prank on us, we didn't think..."

Hiccup remembered the day Fishlegs came to talk with him while in his cell and he felt some sympathy for the boy. As for Snotlout...This one didn't inspire him much fondness but he didn't look dangerous. He turned to Astrid, and asked:

"We tell them?"

She shrugged, it wasn't as if they had many choices anyway. So that's how they sat for at least an hour and Astrid and Hiccup had to answer questions. The four teens asked many things, even Ruffnutt who knew a lot already wanted to learn more about what happened to them while they had been away. While learning the whole story the three boys started to relax, even with the dragons watching them. Ruffnutt, who was already feeling at ease, petted Stormfly and reacquainted herself with Toothless. Usually, her brother wouldn't show her any sign of admiration or recognition when she would do something good without his help, yet for once, Tuff allowed himself to show how amazed he was to see his sister so at ease with those creatures.

The three boys were especially bewildered to see Hiccup could speak and also that he wouldn't attack them. More of all, they were bewildered to see him and Astrid together. Of course, they knew she had run away with him, and they had seen her protective behavior toward him. Yet it was something definitelty stranger to see her as a wild girl along with him.

When they were done telling the story, Fishlegs could perfectly understand why Astrid did what she did. She was right: something in their believes just couldn't fit what they had under their eyes. If dragons were blood-thristy creatures, how was it that a human baby had been raised among them? And now how could it be that a Viking girl had been able to befriend them? The nadder was tender and loving toward the young girl. He was extremely curious, there was a Night Fury, the boy raised by them, and this time he would talk!

Snotlout and Tuffnutt still had some doubts, but they were willing to try to know more. Though he still couldn't forget how Hiccup had bitten his face, Snotlout was feeling less hostile toward him when Astrid spoke of the rape attempt by the outcasts; this boy was maybe wild, and he might have committed the crime to attack him, but he also saved his friend/dream-girl. As for Tuffnutt, this was all crazy enough to make him excited.

"So dragons have their own langage?" Fishlegs asked shyly to Hiccup.

"Hum, yes. They do, we also need to talk."

"And you can understand them?!"

"Well, duh!" Tuffnutt exclaimed.

His sister nodded in approval of her brother. It was amazing that such a thing could seem obvious to someone, but yet again, the twins were...Well, the twins.

"It's actually quite simple," Hiccup answered.

"And you said that your mother brought you to a human, hum..."

"Millie."

"Yes, why did she do that?"

"Because she knew I needed help by a human. To survive."

He omitted to say that his mother also wanted to give him the possibility to return among humans, he was coming too close to that, it was still scaring him.

"Of course, that's how you got clothes and a sword...It's amazing, that dragon was aware of everything that it implied to raise a human child!"

Fishlegs started to ask questions about Night Furies; Snotlout rolled his eyes and leaned toward Tuffnutt to murmur:

"It's quite funny that his name is Hiccup."

It got Astrid's attention, it wasn't rare for Snotlout to say stupid or nonsensical things and usually she wouldn't pay attention. Yet this time she did: she as perfectly sure he was insulting Hiccup, reffering to his thin figure. Hiccup seemed like he wondered what he meant.

"Why?" Asked the young girl.

He paled a little in fear, seeing that she was angry at him. Every time Astrid was mad at him, it would end with a blow somewhere on him.

"Well, it's just that Stoick would be furious at this! To know that the Dragons' Prince is named like his son was!"

"Wait, what?"

Astrid felt a jolt of adrenaline when she heard what Snotlout said. The boy continued:

"Yeah, my cousin was named Hiccup, my uncle hardly speaks of him, but I remember they named him like that because he was really small."

Astrid's breath was cut short and her eyes widened as realization washed through her...It couldn't be...She turned toward Hiccup:

"You said once it wasn't the dragons who named you like that, isn't it?"

"No...I was already saying my name when they took me."

"Your true parents named you like that..."

Hiccup didn't say anything, yet he wanted to. He wanted to protest, to tell her to stop thinking like this, that it didn't matter to him. However, something was stopping him, maybe a part of him wanted to know the truth.

"Wait, Astrid it can't be..." Fishlegs murmured.

She looked back at Snotlout.

"Stoick's son was taken by a dragon, what happened exactly? How old was he?"

"Hum...If I remember well he was one or two, and my father told me that their house was on fire and when Stoick went to save his son, a Night Fury took it and it couldn't be caught."

"But no one saw that baby being killed, right?"

"No but what..."

Snotlout gaped as he finally understood what Astrid meant.

"You think he is Stoick's son? That he is my..."

"That's crazy," Tuff murmured.

"No, not really. Hiccup told me that the Night Fury who adopted him saw him in the middle of a fire while attacking a village. She took him and he was old enough to say his own name."

"Yes, I heard Gobber talk about him sometimes while working in the forge: he said Stoick's son was taken at two. He also said it was eleven years ago; so he should be our age..."

"It can't be just a coincidence..."

"No."

They all turned toward Hiccup who was white as snow. Before anyone could say anything the boy just ran away on his four, sneaking through the bushes. Toothless immediately went after him to see what was wrong. All the other teens watched that with surprise.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Asked Ruffnutt.

"I don't know..."

Astrid was about to go to catch him back but she felt a hand around her arm. It was Snotlout who was holding her back, he seemed genuinly upset.

"Wait, so you're really sure that guy could be my cousin?"

"It's too many coincidences, don't you think? First he is the age Stoick's son should be, he was taken by a Night Fury in the middle of a fire during an attack when he was only a babe, and more of all, they have the same name!"

Snotlout didn't answer anything, in fact he looked quite shocked at this.

"But he doesn't look like Stoick," Ruff pointed out.

"Maybe he looks like his mother," Fishlegs suggested. "What did she look like?"

The only response was a shrug from Snotlout who had no idea of that. Astrid left them and went to find Hiccup. She finally saw him in a tree, sitting on a branch and hugging the trunk. Toothless was near him, licking his face gently to comfort him. She climbed and choose a spot near him. He forced himself not to look at her while his brother gave her a hopeful gaze.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.

"I know you don't like Stoick, but he could be your father, in fact I'm sure he is. Don't you want to know him?"

"No..."

"Why?"

She actually had a good idea why, but she wanted Hiccup to speak. He kept silent at first, she insisted a little and he finally spoke:

"Because I don't want my father to be him."

Astrid took his hand in hers.

"We don't choose our family, Hiccup. Stoick has done wrong things, but he is not as bad as you think he is. Same for Snotlout, he might be a moron, but he's your cousin, maybe you should try to know him at least..."

"Him yes, but the chief..."

"Stoick is...Do you know why Stoick hates dragons so much?"

He shrugged, to him it seemed obvious: this man hated dragons because he was a Viking, nothing else. He and Astrid never really spoke about Stoick, in fact Astrid hardly spoke of Berk since she had ran away.

"He thinks dragons killed you. He wants to avenge you."

This startled him and he looked at Astrid expectedly.

"I always heard since I was a little girl that Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, had been taken by a Night Fury to be devoured. HIs heart was broken, and he had sworn to avenge his son from dragons. He never forgot him, time couldn't lessen the pain he felt from his loss." She stopped for a short moment. "I have seen it myself, each time someone mentioned his son to Stoick, you could see sadness in his eyes, also he was rarely smiling...He...He never forgot about you."

Hiccup had a hard time to breath. He had wondered about his true parents at times, he had wondered if they remembered him. So to hear that the one who could be his father had never forgot him...And even if he wasn't his true father, Hiccup couldn't help but feel bad for him: if that man had loved his child so much and felt so much pain upon loosing him, then he could only pity him. Yet he had to admit Astrid was probably right, and if he asked his mother where she had picked him up...If she answered this island was the one on which she found him, then no doubts would be allowed. Stoick, his father...How could it be?

 **So now Hiccup and the others knows...Now let's see what will happen! Review, please!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Hi everyone! This chapter is a little longer than the other one I think, I hope you'll like it!**

 **Two important things: first, for this chapter and the followings, keep in mind that this fic isn't PG-rated anymore. Remember he famous battle against the Outcasts. Nothing really gore happens in this chapter, don't worry, but some things might surprise you if you don't keep that in mind.**

 **Second: At a point of the story, I use alternatively 'it' and 'he' to speak about a dragon, from Fishlegs' perspective. It's made on purpose, it's not an error. However, if you see any others, tell me please.**

That night, Hiccup and Astrid found a cave on Berk, and they prepared themselves to sleep here, wrapped in their fur and against their dragons' belly. They had found some mushrooms to make dinner and they were full, unlike some days when food had been harder to find. They were comfortable, though Hiccup knew he would have a hard time sleeping.

"Astrid?"

"Yes?"

"If you're sure that...the chief is my father...Where is...my..."

It felt weird to call someone else than Calla his mother, he couldn't do it, not for now. Still, Astrid understood; she sighed and explained him his mother died, and there was no doubt on that. Hiccup felt a lump in his throat and pain in his chest, he knew it would have been difficult if he had met his real mother, and he had never hoped to see her before, yet...Now that he knew where he came from, the impossibility to know his real mom felt really painful. Astrid felt sorry for him, she knew she did the right thing by telling him Stoick was his father, yet she felt like she was burdening him a lot. Doing the right thing wasn't always easy, she knew that already, she knew it since she admitted to her tribe that she was Hiccup's friend and not his enemy. She had to leave her parents...Hiccup wasn't going through the same thing, but she could understand hat he was feeling.

"If...If I ever met him...my father I mean, maybe he'll tell me more about her."

"Yeah, probably."

But how would they convince Stoick? Would he only accept that truth? Hel, how would they even approach him without getting attacked? Now that the other teens were on their side, maybe they could manage something...But what? They had everything in hand to install peace between humans and dragons, yet they could hardly use any of it, it was frustrating!

"Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

"Now that my friends know, they really can help us. With them, we have more chances to open Hooligans' eyes and maybe stop that nonsensical war. But I'm gonna need you, I can't introduce them to this alone. We have to focus on that for now."

"Of course...You were right, you know."

"About what?"

"Restoring peace is possible. Fishlegs is nice. If we can show them, we can show the rest of the village. Maybe to all Vikings."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear," she declared in a soft but determined tone.

They smiled to each other. Hiccup was still feeling sad, but he would do as she said: he would focus. He looked up at his brother.

" _You're okay with this? If we befriend those humans?_ "

" _I am. If they are not enemies, they can be friends,_ " Toothless said. " _If humans and dragons can be friends, maybe we can continue to live all together._ "

Hiccup hugged his brother tightly. Yes...If they could create a world in which humans and dragons lived together...This would be much better, for everyone. They could finally end this massacre between humans and dragons. Toothless curled around his little brother. He was also afraid at the idea to live with humans, but he was ready to do it if it meant staying with his brother. And if all humans could be like Ruffnutt and Astrid...Maybe those hopes was what allowed them to eventually sleep that night.

The next morning, Astrid showed Hiccup how to make some traps for small animals, something Millie failed to teach him. She also taught him where he could place those and how.

"I got it," Hiccup declared, "I think I saw a rabbit hole nearby."

"Go there, then. We'll part and look for right spots, we'll use our call once we're done, or if there is a problem."

Hiccup nodded. Some days ago, Astrid had learned to practice the same call Hiccup used to communicate with Toothless. She had also trained Stormfly to respond to it. Misluck was probably her lot this morning, because soon after they parted Astrid found herself face to face with a wild boar. The beast grunted and charged at her. The young Viking avoided the attack and drew out her axe, ready to fight.

' _Well, that's probably a revenge of Tyr or Forseti for all those stupid games we played with the twins._ '

The beast charged again. Astrid jumped aside and swirled her axe to hit his neck. She missed but wounded his flank. The boar screamed in pain and spinned round, his teeth drawn out, attempting to hit Astrid to throw her down. His teeth grazed her legs, but the young girl was trained. She jumped on a rock, the boar jumped to try to catch her and she sent her axe right toward his face. The animal dodged and jumped higher to try to catch and Astrid had to throw herself away to avoid him. It became as such, the boar was trying to bit and hit the girl with his tusks, and Astrid would spin and turn and try to hit him with her axe. She was lighter and fast, and she had enough agility and alertness to dodge in time.

She landed another blow on his back and this time the beast squealed and stopped in his tracks. Iit struggled to stay on his paws and she didn't loose time. Another blow went on his skull and this time the beast fell on the ground, dead. Astrid smirked, victory feeling sweet. She loved that: danger and a good fight which made the blood rush through her veins! Fighting against the rogue Night Furies the other day hadn't given her the same satisfaction. Her friends had been wounded and they hadn't been really defeated. But if they could really vainquish them...Oh yes, that would be something! Killing dragons wasn't her wish anymore, but _those_ Furies weren't like the others. Imagining that made her feel excited already!

One glance at the wild boar made her come back to the present. For now, she had to work on that wild boar, it represented an incredible amount of ressources. She howled to call out for one of her friends. Stormfly found her soon and she made the Nadder carry the wild boar to the cave where they had slept last Hiccup came back, he was surprised and happy to see that big animal for themselves. Astrid had decided she would sharpen some of his bones to make small knives for the two of them, and Hiccup decided he would use some of the skin to make a new flask for himself, the old one becoming less and less rugged. Astrid asked him to make one for her as well. They had all they needed to dress and cover themselves for now, but the bones and the meat would definitely be helpful.

They worked for some times on the wild boar, a good part of the meat was eaten by the dragons, and the rest by Hiccup and Astrid. While they were eating, she observed Hiccup who was still eating like an animal. His only notion of cooking was putting meat or fishes above the fire, and still he often prefferred to eat those raw. He would really have to do something about this, his way of eating was gross even for Viking's standards. It made her laugh slightly and he looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"Even Toothless is eating with more delicacy than you."

"I'm not delicacy..."

"Delicate, and you could try..."

"So it's...having delicacy and being delicate...What does delicate mean?"

"You don't know that word? Well, I must admit I rarely use it."

She explained him what the word meant and that he really had to correct his manners of eating.

"I'm fine eating like this," Hiccup said, a little vexed. "You never seemed to mind."

"I don't mind that much, but if you come back to live with humans again, you'll have to change those habit, I can tell you that."

"Oh come on!"

And they argued, Hiccup saying he didn't want to be changing everything in what he did and Astrid declaring he seriously needed to change some of his habits. The argue soon ended thanks to the dragons, who both dragged them outside and took them away from each other. They allowed them to reunite only some times after, and they didn't have a hard time to reconcile, Hiccup admitting that he could indeed change some of his habit, and Astrid stating she didn't want him to be too different from what he was. They played and flew with their dragons after that. When the afternoon was starting to reach its end, Astrid decided they should land at Raven's Point to meet their friends. Hiccup was about to go with her but he saw something from above.

"I'll join you later. There is something I want to do."

Although she wondered what it was, she let him and Toothless fly away and went to Raven Point to see the other teens. They were here already and when she landed they seemed excited about something.

Meanwhile, outside of the village, at the borders of the woods, Stoick the Vast was standing near the cliff, staring at the see. He liked to come here and think; this evening, he reflected over everything that happened, everything he did and didn't do. The Dragon's Prince, the Night Fury, the Hofferson girl...Thoughts of the past soon replaced his reflections about the present.

He thought of Valka, and of the day she died. She was fighting against Outcasts fiercely, she used to wave her sword with an uncommon ability...Yet one of the blasted vermins managed to wound her. Stoick had immediately rushed toward her and killed the man. Yet it couldn't undo what happened, Valka died in his arms. She had tried to pronounce Hiccup's name, and Stoick had perfectly understood what she meant by that: she wanted him to take care of their son. He only had the time to swear it before she died. The loss of his beloved wife had been horrible for Stoick, but at least he could comfort himself and think that she was now at Freya's side, among the warriors who died during a fight to protect their home and family. She died in a fair fight, and though it couldn't resurrect her, Stoick at least avenged her by killing the man who wounded her. It all made mourning a little easier.

The loss of his son, however, had been harder. He had sworn to protect him and he had failed, and the boy died so unfairly...He had been only two, unable to fight back, unlike Valka. His mother died young, but at least she had known some joys, lived exciting experiences...Hiccup never had that, and Odin, the boy had been his only child! Years after Valka, he had got some lovers, but none ever made him wish to marry again, and it seemed that none ever gave him a child. It was as if the gods had punished him for not being able to save his boy, and he knew he deserved that punishment. He remembered how he used to take the child in his arm, he was always being extremely gentle, afraid that he would break him otherwise...

"Valka, I'm so sorry…"

This murmured lament was only heard by the wind and the chief almost felt like crying. Suddenly he heard very light footsteps on the grass behind him.

In the bushes, Hiccup had been hiding. He had seen his father from above, and had decided to look at him. Toothless was nearby but he had told his brother to stay behind. He didn't know why he wanted to do that, maybe because he felt sad for Stoick now that he knew why this man was tormented. Yet he didn't know what to do either, he longed to approach him and he longed to run away at the same time. Without really thinking, he had crawled through the bushes and then got out of it to stand behind his father and had approached him, not even sure what to do. When Stoick heard him and turned round, he cringed. He saw the confusion first, followed by anger in the man's stare and knew he was trading in dangerous waters.

"What are you doing here?!"

Stoick immediately ran toward the dragon-child. Hiccup should have been fast enough to flee, but the emotion made his legs froze for a moment. It was too late when he started to run away, the bigger man seized his wrist and held it in his iron grasp, hurting Hiccup. The dragon-boy let out a yelp and he realized that it wasn't the moment to try to run, he had to do something else.

"You're not running away this time!" Stoick roared. "You..."

"No! That's enough!"

Hearing him talk stunned the big Viking and Hiccup thought that maybe he had a chance to avoid the worse if he behaved like a human.

"That's enough...I don't come to fight," he said.

"You can talk?!"

"I had a friend as a child. She taught me. I feared you…Would torture me if you knew."

Stoick huffed. This blasted kid was a tricky thing, really! His hold on him was still tight, he had no intention to let go. Yet something in the feral child's eyes had changed, he couldn't say what but it puzzled him.

"Astrid told me…You had a son."

"That girl speaks too much!"

His voice was a growl and he tightened his hold around Hiccup's wrist harder, making him wince in pain. It infuriated him: how did that little bitch dare to speak of his son to that wilding! He didn't want to hear that savage speak of his Hiccup anymore.

"Where is she?! And what are you doing here?"

"Let go of me!"

"Oh no, I'm bringing you back to the village! You're telling us where the nest is!'"

Stoick started to pull on his arm to drag him back to the village, and Hiccup tried to pull on his arm but to no avail.

"You really think he would want that? All this death?"

Stoick stopped in his tracks and looked at him with a mix of disbelief and anger.

"Do you really think he would want you to be sad? He would want something else!"

"Don't you dare..."

A roar interrupted Stoick and the saw Toothless emerging from the bushes. The dragon hadn't seen what was happening immediately, his brother had told him to stay behind. But eventually, his instincts kicked in. He had seen the chief holding his brother, and now he was charging at him.

He shot a plasma blast which would have killed the man if Stoick hadn't jumped away, letting go of Hiccup's wrist. The boy jumped on his brother's back and they flew away without one last look. Stoick watched them leave, he had nothing to shoot at them, and anyway the fury was extremely fast. What the hell just happened? The feral boy could talk...Why would he want to talk now? He had asked but the dragon-boy had given no answer. Maybe it was a trap, a distraction to allow the Night Fury to attack him? No, the Night hadn't attacked him immediately, only when Stoick had started to drag the boy toward the village. Plus the Night Fury had only freed the kid, no more. Something wasn't right...

Up there, Toothless was roaring at his brother furiously. He just couldn't believe what Hiccup had done, things could have gone horribly wrong.

" _After everything that man did, you just went to him like that?!_ "

" _He could be my father..._ "

" _I don't care! All he wants right now is to capture you! You'll never do this again!_ "

Hiccup grunted, Toothless had always been protective toward him, but at times he would take it a little too far. And yet, now that he thought again of what happened, could he really blame is brother? Because of some stupid impulse, because he acted without thinking, he could have exposed both of them...If Astrid was to learn that, she would kill him! Good thing that she couldn't speak the language of dragons, otherwise Toothless would have told her everything...Toothless continued to tell him he had been a dumbass for doing this, and Hiccup just let him roar.

When they finally reached the woods, Astrid was already with her human friends. His eyes went on Snotlout and he found himself baffled again to know this guy was actually his cousin. He had met Stoick first, but his cousin was the first of his original family members with whom he had created a bond. The boy gave him a shy smile but didn't say a word and looked down, as if he was uneasy. When he saw that, Fishlegs opened big eyes: Snotlout being shy? Now that was the weirdest thing he had ever seen! Astrid and the twins however went to Hiccup, obviously happy:

"You'll never believe what happened today!" Ruff exclaimed.

"Fishlegs did something great during dragon training," Astrid clarified.

"I never thought we would say that, but it's true," Tuffnutt admitted.

Hiccup was intrigued and he asked Fishlegs what happened. The boy blushed but joyfully explained what went on today.

 _They had trained during the morning, they had fought the Gronkle again, and though the beast terrorized Fishlegs at first, things had changed. After meeting with Astrid and Hiccup he had thought over and over about dragons and the way those behaved. During training, those were always very aggressive but it was normal now that he thought about it. Those animals were trapped and imprisoned, allowed to get out of the cages only to face angry humans...He thought of Hiccup, the way he attaked while being imprisoned contrasted with his kind behaviour during their encounter in the woods...Astrid told him that it had been hard for her to go on with dragon training while befriending Hiccup, he was impressed that she had the courage to requestion everything she knew like that._

 _For once, he tried to observe the Gronkle differently, and he finally saw it: the dragon was looking around for any way out, it seemed to attack in a very messy way, throwing fireballs at anything moving. It was moving around in an agitated way, not like a predator who would position itself carefully before attacking. In fact, the Gronkle acted more like a trapped mouse would: it was panicked! And Fishlegs wondered how he hadn't seen it before, they weren't fighting a big bad bloodthirsty monster who was happily getting out to have some fresh meat. They were fighting a trapped animal who was acting ferocious to hide its fear. It filled him with sadness._

 _After taking their lunch, the four teens went back in the training arena. Gobber wanted to speak to Stoick before their next lesson and he told them to wait for him in there. Fishlegs carefully looked around and seeing nobody else was around, he took this occasion to speak to the other teenagers. After their meeting with Hiccup and Astrid, they had lacked time to speak: their parents had called them as soon as they got out of the woods._

" _Guys, we didn't have the time to speak,but..."_

" _Speak about what? And why do you whisper?" Ruff asked._

" _About what happened yesterday," Snotlout growled in a low voice._

" _Are you okay, Snotlout? I mean it's your cousin if we are right..."_

" _Yeah, of course I'm okay! I'm...Fine, I'm fine. Don't look like you were worried for me, Fishface."_

" _At least now he shouldn't bit you anymore," Tuff whispered in a teasing voice. "but now what do we do?"_

" _That's the problem," Fishlegs explained, "what do we do? Astrid and Hiccup are the proof that we were wrong about dragons, and I have wondered all the night how we should go on with the training. I mean, we can't kill dragons after what we learned. And I think those beasts aren't as bad as we think"_

" _You're free to say that to Gobber."_

 _Fishlegs bit his lips at Snotlout's remark. He was right, they couldn't say anything, they would be called traitors, and somehow, they were. He thought for a minute and went out of the arena, only to come back quickly with some rocks in his pockets and in his bag. His heart was beating like crazy, he couldn't believe what he was about to do._

" _Guys...Open the Gronkle's cage."_

 _They all gaped. Fishlegs almost felt like fainting, he had to be crazy! Yet he also had to see if he was right...He insisted and one of the twins went to open the cage. Fishlegs carefully checked again that no one was around. Taking a deep breath, he went at he door while it bursted open. The three others couldn't believe what they had under their eyes: Fishlegs had always been the shiest, less brave of the all! The beast escaped its cage and growled furiously at the humans. It shot a fireball, Fishlegs dodged with a scream but regained countenance and yelled to his friends:_

" _Don't do anything!" He turned to the dragon: "Hey, dragon! Here!"_

 _The dragon started to charge at him but the boy took out the rocks it collected and the Gronkle's eyes widened slightly before he stopped in its tracks. Fishlegs threw the stones which went right in the big jaw. He then remembered what Astrid told him about the way she started to tame Stormfly and he raised his hand in the air while murmuring gently:_

" _Here, nice dragon...Don't worry...I know we fought before but I just want to be friends now...I just want to be your friend..."_

 _The dragon looked at him suspiciously while chewing the last bit of rock. Fishlegs relaxed a little, the beast seemed calmer, he had a chance...He truly had a chance!_

" _It's okay, no need to fight anymore..."_

 _He approached a little more and the dragon sniffed his hand, his snout and gigantic, sharp fangs not so far from his palm...Fishlegs could feel his heart hitting his ribs and his shaky, unsteady gulps of air were almost hurting his throat and lungs. The beast withdrew its snout away, never grazing Fishlegs' palm, and when their eyes crossed, the boy felt slightly light-headed: the dragon's eyes had grown softer, and a twinge of hope could be perceived._

" _Would...Would you like more rocks?"_

 _As if he could understand, the dragon shook his short tail and Fishlegs took out more stones and threw those gently at the animal. The beast was still keeping his distances with Fishlegs, but his stance was more relaxed and his eyes had a kinder expression. The three others approached cautiously, awed by what Fishlegs just did:_

" _That's what Hiccup and Astrid said, they can really be tamed!" Ruffnutt murmured._

" _You think the Monstrous Nightmare can be tamed?" Asked Tuffnutt_

 _Fishlegs was about to say soemthing but he was interrupted by the Gronkle who growled at the sight of so many people. The beast retreated in his cage and Fishlegs went to reassure him when they heard voices around. He locked the door in a hurry and saw Gobber coming in while other Vikings were taking place to see them training. None had seen what just happened. During the afternoon, they got a new lesson on Zippelback, and none of the teens really tried to hurt it, baffling Gobber who yelled at them to be tougher._

Hiccup was impressed and more than delighted, that boy actually did it. He let out a little yelp of joy and started to jump around in joy, climb in the tree to get down immediately and spin around. The others looked pretty confused and a little freaked out, his wild behaviour was still too now to them. Astrid just chuckled:

"Don't worry guys, that's just his way to show he is happy."

"Yes! You did it!"

"Th...Thanks!"

Hiccup stopped moving and planted himself before Fishlegs.

"He could be your dragon!"

"My dragon?"

Hiccup nodded, in fact a Gronkle was perfect for Fishlegs, the boy was quite similar to them in some ways. Tuffnutt went to him immediately.

"I want a dragon too!"

"Yeah, so do I!" Exclaimed Ruff after her brother.

"Fishlegs, flying in the sky? That's crazy," Snotlout muttered.

"You could do it too," Hiccup declared, smiling to him.

"Really, you think so?"

Hiccup bounced joyfully and nodded. In fact, an idea started to grow into the boy's mind and he proposed it to the others. Fishlegs was a little scared by this, but the others, Astrid and the twins especially, were enthusiastic.

That evening, on Berk, another dragon attack occurred. This time, the dragons were attacking the east part of the village, and the Hooligans thought that it was due to the presence of the sheep here. They saw the plasma blast of the Night Fury, and the village focused on that. If they had known...Stormfly and Toothless were leading the dragons to that part of the village, making as much ruckus and mess as they could. They were worried for their humans, their plan was dangerous. After what happened today, Toothless had been furious that Hiccup had the nerve to propose such a thing, but the boy had been stubborn. Stormfly was also scared, this village had held her Astrid prisoner, they could try again.

Toothless shot a plasm blast on a watch tower, when a strange howl was heard coming from the other side of the village. Both dragons knew exactly who it was and what it meant and their worry intensified, but they stayed where they had to be. Most humans failed to hear it, but some did and Stormfly caught a Viking who was running toward the west part of the village to throw him in the sea. She had to make sure that no humans would wander in that part of the village, they had to stay in their house, or in the east part. No one could come in the west part, where the training arena was! Well, almost no one...Some humans went to help the man and she found out that it could be a good way to distract them. She told Toothless to do the same as her, and soon enough, some Hooligans could be seen flying from the cliff and toward the sea.

Stormfly caught a man but his wife was quick enough to send bolas at her and the Nadder was taken off balance, allowing the husband to hit her with his hammer, and making her fall. She roared as she crashed on the ground and some vikings went at her to try to restrain her, she threw spikes in one swift whip of her tail and spat fire at them, burning her bonds at the same time. She ripped those off, whipped her tail again to hit a man who was about to jump on her and dodged a net thrown in her direction. A plasma blast shot by Toothless toward her attackers stopped them from throwing any other projectiles in her direction, allowing her to fly far. She disappeared in the nightly sky only to plunge again and grab another prey who ended in the sea as well.

This game of throwing Vikings made people so agitated and the atmosphere so chaotic that people failed to notice that the group of teens who were supposed to extinguish fires went missing at some point. They had vanished from the battle field as soon as they had heard a strange howl coming from the east part of the village. They had ran toward the arena to fing Hiccup and Astrid already opening the door. Astrid stayed at the door, hiding behind it to watch out for any one intruding.

Hiccup asked the teens to show him how they could open the cage. They started with the Gronkle, and though the beast was at first scared by this sudden intrusion, Hiccup (who realized immediately the dragon was a female and not a male as Fishlegs first thought) calmed her soon enough by talking to her in their language, saying they were friends. The dragon was even more reassured when she saw Fishlegs and allowed the boy to take her toward the exit and make sure she could leave safely. Then it was the Zippelback's turn, and Hiccup introduced the two heads to the twins. The chemistery formed itself soon enough, maybe because if the twins' fishy smell, and the two led the dragon out without much difficulty. Then, Snotlout turns came. The boy turned toward his cousin with anxiousness.

"You...You want me to take the Monstrous Nightmare?"

"Yes, come."

"I don't think I..."

"You can. Why not, after all?"

Snotlout recollected himself, he had always been eager to prove his worth and he wanted to do so with his cousin as well. That's why he stood where he was; Hiccup opened the cage while growling to reassure the big dragon inside already. The beast stepped out in a serene manner though he seemed still a little tense. The dragon-boy continued to growl, and Snotlout couldn't help but be impressed. As much as he had cursed after Hiccup while he was still their enemy, he had always felt some grudgeful respect for that strange creature deep down. To think they were related...

Hiccup grabbed his hand and led it toward the dragon's snout, and though Snotlout resisted a little at first, afraid to be maimed, Hiccup reassured him. His cousin put his palm between the beast's nostrils and left it here. As soon as he made contact with the dragon's skin, Snotlout saw the beast's gaze soften and was just amazed. He was touching a dragon! He let out an amazed chuckle, and Hiccup smiled softly at this.

"Guys! Hurry up, I hear people coming closer!"

Astrid's voice reminded them of what was happening outside and Hiccup felt guilty toward Toothless and Stormfly. He and Snotlout led the dragon out and allowed it to fly away. The Gronkle and the Zippelback were waiting there, and the three dragons left for the mountains, elated to find their freedom again. Hiccup and Astrid howled to have Toothless and Stormfly come back and their friends left them quickly, not wanting anyone to know what they had been doing. Stormfly and Toothless were here as soon as they could, Astrid and Hiccup saw their figure plunging toward them.

They waited for the two dragons to land and allow them to mount on their backs, but instead, the two dragons plunged and seized the two bewildered humans in their paws before going up in the nightly sky again. Dangling in the air, held by the arm, Hiccup shrieked furiously at Toothless who savored this little revenge on his brother. Astrid however didn't protest, she was simply glad to see that Stormfly was doing well and her pragmatic side was telling her that the dragons had been smart not to loose any time.

" _In the mountains,_ " yelled Hiccup, " _we have to find the other dragons there!_ "

Though he complied, Toothless didn't deprive himself from spinning while holding his brother by the arm. However, as soon as he did that, he heard a pained yell from his brother and he stopped, alarmed.

" _Sorry! I didn't thought it would hurt you._ "

" _Toothless, seriously!_ "

" _Sorry, I took it too far..._ "

This time, he felt he was the one who had to excuse himself, so he put Hiccup on the top of the closest rock and allowed him to climb on his back. Though Hiccup rolled his eyes while massaging his sore shoulder, he rubbed his cheek against his brother's crone, and Toothless cooed. The matter was now settled. Stormfy also allowed Astrid to climb on her back as soon as possible. The girl petted the Nadder gently and praised her for doing such a good job back at the village. She was feeling guilty for putting a mess in there, but it had been necessary. Thanks to that, they would maybe be able to offer their friend something to thank them for listening.

 **I hope you enjoyed warrior Astrid, she is definitely great to write. Let's not forget that even someone loving can be a tough warrior as well! As for Stoick and Hiccup, yeah, their relationship definitely don't start in the best way...But our Hiccup is definitely hard-headed.**

 **Don't hesitate to leave reviews, it encourage me always, especially constructive reviews.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Hi everybody! I hope you're ready for the ride, our riders will make some...plans. Sorry for the time it took, I had a lot of work lately, and I really wanted to update Rider and the Beast first, because I was really getting late on that fic.**

Finding back the dragons they freed hadn't been difficult, they were in the mountain, enjoying their new-found happiness. It hadn't been a difficulty to convince them to meet the humans who helped them. They had an encounter the next day, the teens had been released from dragon training as there was no dragon anymore and would just spare together under Gobber's watch. Tuffnutt was beaming while telling them how people reacted:

"You should have seen that, all the people who were raging because the dragons had escaped the arena! They couldn't believe it! It was maybe not intended to be a trick, but it was still the best mess we ever put. If it hadn't been so dangerous, I would have told them it was us!"

"Yeah, so much glory was denied to us," sighed Ruffnutt. "Instead you and Hiccup took all the blame."

"Thank God you didn't say anything this time," Astrid grunted. "Now come, the dragons are here. Remember, don't try to coerce them."

The atmosphere became more serious while Hiccup called the dragons. The beasts came toward the humans again and this time, the atmosphere was much more relaxed: the dragons were free and not confined in a stressful environment and the short contact they already shared made everyone a little more trustful. The dragons allowed the teens to get on their back the second time they met and the four of them were just elated by their first flight. Hiccup and Astrid stayed close to them all the while, to avoid them making any errors. Ruffnutt hugged both Astrid and Hiccup after this.

Days passed as such, the teens would secretely meet their wild friends in the forest and learn about dragons. It reminded Astrid of the time she used to meet with Hiccup and Toothless in secret, except that this time _she_ was one of the secret wild friend...How strange it felt at times...Ruffnutt and Tuffnutt were going along very well with their dragon, probably because the Zippelback, now named Barf and Belch, was pretty stupid and therefore some kind of harmony had started between them. Fishlegs and his Gronkle, Meatlug, were forming also a very strong bond already, the female Gronkle was already being protective toward her human, while Fishlegs was anything but loving. Snotlout had more difficulty, Hookfang was being difficult at times.

One thing was making Astrid worry a little however: Snoltout's way of acting. He had been shocked upon finding that Hiccup was his cousin, which was natural, but after that, he had done some things that seemed strange to her. He had asked twice when they would introduce Hiccup to his father and the village, saying he had to go back to Berk. Also, he was often trying to get his cousin's attention. It could seem nromal too, that Snotlout would want to know his cousin, but there was something else. After Hiccup's 'death', Snotlout had been named Heir because he was Stoick's closest young relative. The boy had always been proud about it, though he had stopped to boast about it some years ago. Yet his arrogant behaviour was enough to tell her what he thought of it. So now why was he proposing Hiccup to come back? If Stoick discovered Hiccup was in fact his son, Snotlout would loose his title as Heir of the tribe...

An idea came into her mind: Maybe it was a way to trap him? What if Snotlout hoped that Stoick would kill or imprison Hiccup if they introduced him to soon? This made her cringe a little. Snotlout could be a bully and an idiot, but she never thought he could be that heartless or cruel. Or maybe he was just trying to act nice to stab him in the back as soon as possible. Maybe she was wrong? After all, was Snotlout intelligent enough to do such things? She didn't know, but she would keep an eye on him.

One afternoon, they were all at Raven's Point, the twins were playing with Barf and Belch, while Snotlout was trying to get Hookfang to obey. Astrid, Hiccup and Fishlegs were talking while Toothless was playing with Stormfly and Meatlug. Usually, Fishlegs would ask them questions about their time in the wild, what they had seen and done. He would also ask Hiccup a lot of questions about his childhood, he was still fascinated by the fact a human lived in the wild. Today, however, the boy had other things in mind.

"Guys, what are we gonna do about all this?"

"What do you mean?"

"We can't just go to Stoick and be like: 'Hey guess what? We're now friends with dragons, it'd be cool if you just allowed us to keep those!' And we can't hide forever."

"We show humans dragons are good," Hiccup simply stated. "We show them we have to live together."

"I feel kind of lost, I don' t know where this is all going. What are we now? Are we still Vikings if we befriend dragons? And what's gonna happen if we show that to everyone else? Will they even accept it?" Asked Fishlegs to the two of them. "It's more likely that we'll get banned or jailed..."

"Why not accept it?" Hiccup said, "Less death isn't bad. And I know what is it to not know what you are. But we have to go on."

The Viking boy felt a little bad at this: he was complaining about not knowing who he was to someone we was between two species all his life! Yet Hiccup didn't seem angry at all, just sympathetic. Astrid could understand both boys. She had wondered many times during her stay with Hiccup: was she a Viking or a wilding? And what did she want to be? She had enjoyed her time in the wild, but it couldn't continue: she was human, she missed being among her own kind. And more importantly she couldn't let her tribe live in such misconceptions.

"Fishlegs, you're right, it's risky. But now that you saw the Red Death and know like me the reasons of all this, can you really let the war go on? We can't just let it continue for our own safety. Yes, it will probably be hard for them to accept it, and I don't know what they'll do once we'll show them, but there is only one way to know."

That was true and he knew it. Fishlegs shivered at the memory of the Red Death. When the teens had been able to fly on their dragons' backs, Astrid and Hiccup had taken them to the dragons' nest and showed them the true reason of the war: the Red Death. They had all been scared, Fishlegs had to make a lot of effort not to yell in fear. When they saw the gigantic jaw like a bottomless pit, they understood now why it was vital not to have that thing leaving the mountain. They had left quickly, Hiccup fearing the Red Death to try to kill them, yet they had been lucky that the big dragon had been too occupied trying to get a poor Zippelback.

"You're right," Fishlegs sighed, "I lost sight of that, it was stupid of me. This is all happening so fast that at times I have difficulty to think straight and..."

He was interrupted by a scream from Snotlout who accidentally had his bottom burned by Hookfang. He was screaming with fire on his pants and the twins were laughing out loud. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh too.

"I think we'll have to help this Viking first!"

The three of them went to Snotlout who just jumped in the water.

"You alright?"

"Yeah...But I'm not sure he likes me...I mean, he has every reasons to like me but he doesn't seem to..."

"He does," Hiccup assured him. "Monstruous Nightmares can be tough, but if he didn't like you, he would have burned you already."

"Oh...Well then, I guess we'll get along," Snotlout declared in a fake-confident tone, "we're pretty tough too in my family...I mean our family."

He pointed to Hiccup while saying that. Hookfang nudged Snotlout a little brutally but nudged him still and the boy petted his new dragon in response. Then he turned to Hiccup and asked in a fake-decontracted tone:

"When are you gonna return with us?"

"Uh?"

"In the village! That's your right place after all," Snotlout bluntly declared, a little agitated.

Hiccup just shrugged and Snotlout seemed disappointed. Astrid frowned, something in the boy's behaviour seemed strange. She could feel Snotlout had something in mind and wasn't saying everything, and though usually she would have brushed it off, now she wanted to know. Yet Hiccup proposed Hiccup to get on Hookfang's back together, in order to help them find a better dynamic. His cousin accepted immediately and they fled together, Toothless following them to be sure Hookfang wouldn't hurt his brother. Astrid however, wasn't wary because of Hookfang, and she mounted on Stormfly to follow them. She doubted Snotlout would try anything with Toothless around, yet she had to be sure.

Nothing wrong happened yet, Hiccup was just explaining some things about Monstrous Nightmares. When the evening came, however, she took the first opportunity she got to go and confront him about this. She sighted the boy sitting next to his Monstrous Nightmare. No one else was there, the twins were flying in the sky, Fishlegs was searching for some rocks, and Toothless and Hiccup were checking the small traps they made. She called Stormfly and went to him, the boy smiled to her when he saw her.

"Hey, babe..."

She swung her axe and stopped her movement when the blade was right under his neck and he tensed, not daring to say another word.

"What's wrong with you?"

He was obviously surprised at her question. She knew she wouldn't have troubles getting the truth out of him, Snotlout was a liar but a bad one, especially when he was scared.

"No...Nothing's wrong with me…"

"Oh yes there is and I can tell. Since you learned Hiccup is your cousin, you're strange. I first thought that it was normal, but you're really acting weirder than usual! So what's wrong with you?"

She put some pressure on his neck without cutting, he was trembling already.

"Nothing, I tell you! I'm happy that he is alive, really, there is nothing wrong…"

"Snotface, I know you're lying."

Her determined face was probably enough to tell him she wouldn't drop the subject. Yet he could be hard-headed as well, and he was already used to have her pointing deadly weapons at him.

"He is Stoick's son, and therefore, he should be the next chief…"

"So that's it, you're worried he'll stole your title."

"No, it's not that at all!"

"Then what? I warn you Snotlout, if you try something against him..."

"I would never do that!"

This surprised Astrid, she knew it when Snotlout was lying, and he never said something as genuinely as this. His eyes, his tone, his body language...It seemed like he really meant it. Yet, she was still sure something was wrong with him. She was about to ask him something again, but suddenly the twins emerged from behind the bushes.

"Quick! People are coming!"

The teens and the dragons followed the twins and left right before some hunters could surprise them. They found Fishlegs and Meatlug and told him they had to hide instead of going back to Raven's Point. They went to the cave Astrid and Hiccup shared, and she used their howl to call Hiccup to the cave.

"This can't go on," Tuffnutt growled, "we always have to hide! It's usually funny but not this time!"

"We can't have them see us," Astrid stated.

"I thought about it too, a lot. I want to live normally on Berk but I can't abandon Meatlug, she is my baby, and I don't want to stop seeing Hiccup and Astrid," Fishlegs explained to Tuff.

"Yeah, and Barf and Belch are just the best, I couldn't just look at myself if I had to kill a Zippelback," Ruff sighed thoughtfully

"They are a part of us now," Tuff added.

"Same for me and Stormfly, she is my girl. And I couldn't leave the one who gave that to us behind either."

"What about me? It's my cousin! And Hookfang…He might be tough, but I know he likes me, really."

Once again, it seemed to Astrid that Snolout was being genuine, yet the boy was avoiding her stare, and she remembered that she had to continue their conversation later.

"All that is fine, but what do we do about Berk?" Tuffnutt asked.

"We have to convince our tribe that dragons aren't what they believe," Fishlegs declared, "we have to show Stoick the Red Death, that way we could explain him what's really happening and then…Well, we could show them our dragons…"

"And what if they try to kill them?!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"I know it's risky."

"Almost crazy, and not the kind of crazy I really like," Tuffnutt replied.

"And Stoick would still want to avenge his son's death," Astrid pointed out. "We can try to tell him Hiccup is his son but he won't believe us."

That was indeed a problem: the chief of Berk would probably never believe them, after all, they had no concrete proof even if the name and age fitted, the boy didn't look like Stoick. And there was the possibility that he wouldn't _want_ to believe it.

"Anyway, it's maybe not to us to tell him," Fishlegs advanced, "Hiccup doesn't seem to be ready for that."

"It's his dad, why wouldn't he?" Asked Ruff.

"Because of everything that happened between them before. For now, Fishlegs is right, what we should care about is showing Stoick the Red Death. That's risky but it's the only way," Astrid declared.

"Okay, but we first have to convince him to follow us," Snotlout pointed out, "and that won't be easy."

"Who says we have to convince him?" Asked Astrid with a mischievous smile.

Fishlegs's eyes widened and though Snotlout wasn't sure what she meant, he felt she had a crazy idea. Ruff however smirked hugely.

"Are we gonna do a good ol' kidnapping?"

Astrid simply nodded and the twins clasped their hand in joy with a yell of satisfaction.

"Are you crazy?" Fishlegs breathed.

"Probably, haven't you understood that already?" She simply replied.

"And we join you in that craziness," Tuffnutt added.

"What's happening?"

They all turned toward Hiccup who just arrived. Tuff and Ruff went at his side and linked arms with him.

"We are going to kidnap your dad!"

"What?"

They made Hiccup spin round and Astrid watch amused before tearing him away from the twins' grasp. He held her tight, thankful that she freed him from those two tornados.

"I'll explain you."

O o O

This evening, while Stoick was checking with the patrolling guards for any sign of threat, some inhabitants were searching for their children. Their kids had a tendency to go in the woods a lot more than they liked. Sure, it wasn't unusual, they had played in those woods since years, yet after what happened with the Hofferson girl, they were a little more careful now.

"Stoick!"

The chief turned toward Maka, Snotlout's mother and his sister-in-law. The broad woman looked worried, something which was unusual of her.

"What is it?"

"I can't find my son, haven't you seen him?"

"No, but he is probably training with the others."

"Oh, I'm not worried for him, my Snotlout is strong! But you know..."

"Yes, I understand. Well, we're..."

Stoick was interrupted as he was suddenly lifted off the ground! Maka gasped in stupefaction and looked up to see Stoick being carried away toward the sea by a big Nadder. The chief was swearing profusely and struggling. Other dragons were flying aorund the Nadder and though it was getting ark, she saw what seemed to be people on their backs...She had nothing to throw at them!

"Help! Help! Stoick has been captured!"

But the dragons were too fast and soon enough, it was heard among the villagers that Stoick the Vats was taken, maybe by the Dragon Prince and the traitor...Gobber and Spitelout were both desperate, their chief was tough, sure, but even the toughest man was mortal...Maka was feeling guilty, because she didn't have the time to react, and she feared for her brother-in-law. Gothi prayed the gods that they would return Stoick to them as soon as possible.

While the village was worried, the chief was erupting, he was held by one arm by a big dragon and when he had tried to hit it with his hammer, a plasma blast had thrown the weapon in the sea. He tried to tear his arm from the gigantic claws. It didn't matter to him whether or not he would fall in the sea, he could perfectly swim back ot Berk. Yet he couldn't, the hold on him was too tight!

"If you really think you'll get me to eat me easily, you're wrong, you bunch of rotten...

"Don't worry, chief, no one here wants to eat you!"

He was surprised to hear a voice. Clouds over the moon had made the darkness thick, and he hadn't see the humans on the dragons' backs; plus he had been too busy trying to get free. He recognized Astrid's voice.

"You?! Haven't brought enough shame on your family?!"

"Don't forget us!"

"Hi chief!"

It was the Thorston twins' voices! He looked to see the shape of a zippelback, and two hands waving to him. Then, heheard Snotlout and Fishlegs' voices and realized it was worse than he imagined.

"You all betrayed us! You let her corrupt you!"

"I corrupted no one!" Yelled Astrid.

"We just showed them."

The sixth voice was one he had heard recently, he saw close to him the Dragons' Prince flying on his Night Fury's back. Before Stoick could say anything to the little bastard, someone spoke:

"They showed us we were wrong; chief, and we're gonna show you," Fishlegs shyly explained.

"Show me what?"

"You wanted the nest? You're gonna have it!" Astrid exclaimed.

Though he was still furious at them, those words were enough to silence him with stupefaction. They were showing him the nest? Why? Maybe they wanted to throw him to the dragons...Yet the girl said no one would devour him. No, he couldn't trust that girl, she betrayed everyone! Yet if they wanted to kill him, they had no need to bring him to the nest, one of their dragons could have killed him while he was suspended in the air like this. Then what? He had heard that Astrid tamed a Nadder, the rumours about the Dragons' Princess had reached his ears. He thought again of how promising the girl had been, at a time, he even considered naming her Heiress of the tribe if Snotlout wasn't good enough. Why did she do this? He felt his anger flatten when he learned she almost got raped during the battle against the Outcasts.

"Girl, I know what almost happened to you in the hands of the Outcasts, and I know you're probably angry that none of us had been able to help you..."

"It's not that!" She exclaimed.

Unwanted memories surfaced again, and she tried to push those away. She didn't ant any of this. Hiccup jumped from Toothless's back to Stormfly's and hugged her. Though she tensed a little, and seemed surprise, she didn't push him away. He knew Astrid was tough, yet he still hated to see her hurt. He knew she didn't want people to view her as weak, but needing comfort from time to time was not a weakness. That girl had been able to live with him and dragons and now she was feeling strong enough to stop an entire war. He had wanted that too, all his life he had hated this war against humans, but he never thought it could be possible; Astrid showed him that it was.

She sighed and looked at him. From anyone else, she would have found this gesture a little ridiculous, but this was Hiccup, and well...He was Hiccup. She smiled at him, showing she would be alright. He smiled back in response, rubbed his cheek against hers and then spoke to Stoick.

"If you don't try to hurt us, we'll put you on Hookfang's back. I know that hurts."

Sitting on one of those beasts' back? No way! On the other hand, he was held in the air like a fish, it wasn't really better, and though he was strong, his shoulder could use a rest.

"...Fine! I promise."

Snotlout placed his dragon beneath Stormfly and Astrid ordered her to drop him. Stoick landed on the Nightmare's back, Hookfang roared as if to remind the Viking he had to stay put. The rest of the travel passed in silence, Stoick was still furious, but he was also baffled at what he saw: teenagers he knew since their childhood riding on dragons, and this Dragon's Prince with them. The perspective to see the nest was also leaving him speechless...Soon, he saw a glow in the darkness and saw countless forms flying in the sky.

"We're approaching," Snotlout murmured.

He heard different shrieks and the chief was pretty baffled to see none of them were attacking. The glow grew bigger and Stoick saw a big mountian on an island, enlightened by the moonlight and by red glows of lava. He was agape as he saw thousands of different shapes flying in the sky. He was there! He wanted to find this place since he was a little boy! He instictively reached for his hammer but he didn't have it. By Thor, having all those dragons around but no weapon! The dragons were roaring and shrieking, as they approached he saw that they all had food, probably stolen from tribes. They entered the mountain through a tunnel and what he saw was impressive. Everything was red inside, he saw small nests with eggs and more surpisingly, dragons throwing food in a red smoky pit. The dragons had stopped at the entrance, Stoick got off of Hookfang's back and advanced slowly toward the pit, not believing what he saw. They weren't eating anything? Maybe they were storing the food?

"Please, Chief, don't stand so close, if she sees you..."

The look from Stoick stopped Fishlegs in his tracks, he was certainly not gonna let that boy tell him what to do! But then, he saw the Dragon-boy and he knew something was wrong: the feral child was partially hiding behind a rock and he was looking at the pit with scared eyes. What was wrong with him? Wasn't this home for him?

"What is it?"

"She always scared me," the boy uttered, "she always try to eat me. And last time, she almost did."

Showing his fear to the chief was something Hiccup didn't like. He knew that man could be his father, yet for now, he was still a potential enemy. Yet, she almost eat them last time, and right now they were back, with his brother, most of his friend, and the one who could be his father. He had too much to loose. It seemed like the chief was baffeld at his behavior. He would soon understand.

"Who..."

Then, he heard a roar, an incredibly loud roar. Every dragons around backed away from the pit, as if they were scared...Some would continue to throw food in the pit, but would leave as fast as they could. Stoick continued to look when he saw it: an enormous head emerging from the smoke trying to catch a Monstrous Nightmare who hardly got time to escape. Stoick's eyes widened, that thing...What was this?! Himself was hardly bigger than one of its fangs! The monster went back in the smoke slowly, with a soft growl which sounded like a malevolent chuckle. It was worse than anything he could have imagined, worse than any of his nightmares...

"Odin help us..."

And then he felt powerless. They couldn't fight this...He found the nest, yeah, only to see there was nothing to do. He felt a hand grabbing his arm and saw Astrid pulling on him to make him back away and this time he didn't protest. Dragons and humans all left hurriedly, thankfully enough, the Red Death didn't see them this time. They flew away, and landed at the feet of the mountain. Stoick was feeling empty. All his life he searched the dragon's nest, and he was perfectly aware that it wouldn't be easy to fight all the dragons, but they had a hope at least. Now...This thing was destroying all hopes.

"Do you understand now? It's that thing which started everything," stated Astrid.

"It's that monster they feed with our food?"

He looked at the teens and saw the Dragon's Prince climbing on a rock like some kind of lizzard before embracing his knees to form a tight ball. The Night Fury sat at his brother's side, guarding him from the chief.

"She go out if we don't," the boy said, "you don't want that."

"They don't have the choice," Fishlegs continued, "she devours them otherwise, and as Hiccup said she..."

"Wait what?"

Fishlegs froze as he realized he said the boy's name. Surprisingly, it was Snotlout who came at his rescue.

"I named him Hiccup, because he is very scrawny."

"You named him like my son?!"

He advanced toward Snotlout, obviously furious, when Hookfang pushed his rider out of the way and roared at Stoick. This stunned the chief.

"If you try to hurt Snotlout, Hookfang will kill you," Hiccup simply stated.

He and Snotlout exchanged a little glance, and the wild boy could see his cousin smile slightly in spite of his worry. Arms around his knees, back hunched, Hiccup was giving little peaks at the mountain, looking anxious. Stoick remembered the boy saying ' _she always scared me_ '. No wonder. Strangely, he felt a little like back then on Berk, when he had interrogated the wilding and made him cry. He wasn't feeling ashamed this time, but he was once again very aware that this creature was no more but a child. Toothless was watching Stoick with threatening eyes, showing there was no way he would let him hurt his brother. Putting aside for a moment that his nephew named this wild boy like his son, he spoke to Hiccup:

"When you came to see me the other day, you wanted to tell me about this dragon?"

"...Yes, but you didn't listen."

"So, it's to her that my son..."

"No," he declared while shaking his head, "dragons don't give her babies."

"So what?"

Hiccup just shrugged. He felt they were dangerously close to tell him the truth. Maybe he was wrong, but he had the feeling that once this man would know, he would definitely tie himself to the human world, and there would be no turning back.

"I don't know...There are some Night Furies who hates humans. Not all, just a few."

Stoick sighed and remained silent. They got on the dragon's back, Stoick going again behind Snotlout. He deeply thought during all the travel, the teens hardly dared to speak to him. From what he learned, it seemed like dragons were only trying to survive and only some of them truly intended to do serious harm. This idea was just too incredible to digest easily, how could he imagine that everything he believed in had been a lie?All these years he fought against what he believed to be ferocious mosnters, and now he was learning that all that time he just killed animals who only were trying to do what was needed to keep a monster away? One common point that Astrid and Stoick was that they both made the difference between being tough and being cruel. He hadn't been deliberately cruel toward dragons, as he legitimately thought they were a threat, but he realized that he did something wrong without intending it.

"You said some Night Furies hate humans?"

"Yes," Hiccup answered. "Some of their owns were killed. Humans wounded them, they weren't caught but they died in the wild because of the wounds."

It hit and froze him in horror: what if it was his tribe who killed those furies and triggered such a revenge? What if it was because of it that his son was taken? Could it be that humans were the one who sealed the fate of his Hiccup? That was impossible to handle, he couldn't bear this idea. He tried to push it away, think that anyway, it was still the dragon's fault for attacking an defenseless baby. Plus, his tribe never proceeded to kill a Night Fury, not that he knew about it. But the boy said the furies were only hurt, never caught...He couldn't help but have those thoughts torment him. He tried to distract himself from it, he looked at the dragon's child, who was still flying on the Night Fury's back. It couldn't be that one who took his baby, obviously he had nothing against humans.

They started to approach Berk, Hiccup and Toothless started to fly away from the rest of the group. He waved his hand at his friends, who mimicked him. Before they kidnapped Stoick, it had been decided that the Hooligans would go back with the chief to the village and explain everything, Astrid included. Hiccup tried to dissuade her from doing that but she argued that she was tired to run away. However, they all agreed that bringing Hiccup would be foolish. It would be too much at once. He and Toothless would simply stay in the mountain, and wait to see. If imprisoned, Astrid would howl to tell him there was danger. He would then do what would be necessary to free them. However, if their plan worked, they would come and tell him.

" _Let's go here_ ," Toothless proposed while going to a part of the mountain. " _We'll have a good view of the village._ "

" _Okay...I hope they'll be fine._ "

" _Me too, Astrid is taking a lot of risks,_ " the dragon admitted.

They landed on the mountain and Hiccup sat on a rock to have a good view of what was happening down there.

" _I know, but she wouldn't listen to me!_ "

" _She is hard-headed and reckless, just like you,_ " Toothless pointed out.

" _I already told you I was sorry about that!_ " Hiccup growled

" _Yeah, sure..._ " He stopped for a moment and spoke again: " _Hiccup, it seemed to work, your father seemed to understand._ "

" _I don't know, maybe._ "

A fresh wind was blowing and Toothless extended his wing over his brother who rubbed his head against his. Clouds had been blown away and the moon was glowing in the sky again. On a night like that, Hiccup would have admired the stars and the sea, but right now, all he could focus on was the houses enlightened by small flames. He couldn't see what was happening, the flames weren't giving enough light, and they were too far. There were a few sounds only, sounds of nature...Such a peace while there was such a turmoil inside of him. He had told Fishlegs they had to do this and he still thought so, but he could understand why the boy was so scared. They doing something right but they would also change and reveal so much it was actually scary. Hiccup straightened himself: it was for the better good, if they listened good for them, otherwise, he would just free his friend and leave.

Some times passed, and nothing came, both boy and dragon considered approaching the village and see what was happening. What if their friends were in danger but couldn't call? They had doubts but they didn't move. It would be reckless to move now, they were backup in case of danger. Maybe they were just talking, humans could talk a lot after all, and explaining all the situation to the Hooligans would take time.

" _I don't hear any sounds of alarm._ "

" _Maybe the humans are listening_ ," Hiccup advanced.

" _You were more scared than usual, earlier. With her._ "

" _I was always scared of her, but I know you, mom and Thinpaws can escape her. Them, however..._ "

" _I see. It's true that I don't know what to do. What will happen Hiccup? Even if they know, they can't fight against her. They'll know but what solution can they offer?_ "

"M _aybe they'll feed it with us. Or maybe at least, they won't hate us as much._ "

He shrugged, it was true that they always spoke about how they would tell humans the truth, but not about what kind of solution they could bring to the Red Death. Now in Hiccup's mind, there used to be none. And even now that he could see that things he admitted impossible before could come true, it didn't answer this question: how could they stop the Red Death?

" _We could try to kill her, but I don't know how._ "

" _Neither do I...Hey, Hiccup, look!_ "

Toothless growled threateningly and Hiccup tensed. What was it? His brother pulled by the arm to have him mount on his back. The young boy did as such, and while they started to fly, he saw them: five shadows passing before the stars, flying toward Berk. Oh no!

 **You'll see what happened with the villagers in the next chapter. I know some of you are getting impatient to know when Stoick will learn about Hiccup being his son, or if it will ever happen, but I really don't want to spoil anything.**

 **Don't hesitate to tell me what you think of this chapter, if there are things that bothered you or if you have suggestions.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **Okay, between the scene with the villager and the fight scene, I swear this chapter was like a snake pit to cross! Enjoy it!**

 **Important: I'm editing the chapters to the mistakes and also I will add a few little things to clarify some tings in the story, for example: Astrid's feeling for Hiccup in the beginning. I wanted to clarify she didn't fall in love with him as soon as she saw him, it's not love at the first sight. So in case you read precedent chapters, don't be surprised if there are some little changes.**

None of the teens thought that coming back to Berk would be easy, and that's why Hiccup wouldn't land in the village with them. They were all expecting people to be infuriated and baffled, and none of them really knew what they would say. When they saw the dragons landing before the Great Hall, some warriors rushed at them to fight, and stopped when they saw people of their village on their back.

"Stay where you are, don't attack!" Stoick ordered.

People started to gather and all saw Stoick jumped from Hookfang's back, allowing people to see him, and the other teens did the same, telling their dragons to stay calm. Stoick pulled Astrid closer to him in order to protect her from any possible attack. The first things heard were shouts, gasps and words such as:

"What is that?!"

"What's happening?!"

"Stoick, what it this?"

The chief raised his hand:

"Everybody, listen! Those teenagers went to find the Dragon Prince, and they managed to tame dragons for themselves. And they took me to show me the dragon's nest."

People were just baffled at this. Stoick went on:

"And they also showed me what dragons really do with our food."

"What do you mean?" Gobber exclaimed.

"Things are much worse than we thought. There is a monster there, a gigantic dragon they have to feed, otherwise they get devoured," Fishlegs explained.

"I saw it with my eyes," Stoick confirmed, "it does exist and it's because of it that this war started..."

"Astrid!"

Stoick was interrupted by the voice of Olga and Egil, Astrid's parents, who just arrived among the crowd. The young girl felt her stomach tighten, they approached and Stoick put himself between them and their girl.

"Not now, you two."

"Stoick, that's my girl, let me pass!" Her father yelled

"Yes and your girl captured me along with her friends, so before anything she has to explain herself."

"She..."

"Once they'll be done, you'll tell her whatever you want," the chief declared firmly.

The two of them eventually backed away. Astrid held back her tears, she knew her parents were furious at her and she feared their anger much more than anyone else's in the village.

"Why should we believe what they'll tell us?" Suddenly asked Mildew in a hideous voice.

"Stoick is telling you he saw it too," Spitelout spat at him.

Maybe it was because he feared Spitelout, but Mildew stopped talking for a moment. Most of the village trusted the chief enough not to doubt his word, and the teens gave them more details on the monster in the mountain and why it was necessary for dragons to feed it. They explained the dragons would get their own food in the wild and wouldn't have approached humans if they hadn't been under the tyranny of that monster. All the while, the four dragons remained quiet, only growling from time to time when someone was looking too threatening. Though this seemed crazy, the different explanations and the fact Stoick testified was enough to convince most of them. After all, their chief had no reason to lie at the benefit of the dragons. Yet even if that was true, it didn't explain everything.

"That's all good," Mulch growled, "but what about them? And what about _her_?" He said while looking at Astrid.

"Yeah, they went to our enemy!" Someone else shouted.

"We gave you the Nest, what else do you need?!" Snotlout yelled.

"Yeah, we did that to help!" Tuffnutt added.

"Don't tell me you went to the dragons to find the nest in the first place!" Mildew shrieked, "You went to that dragon-boy! I knew we should have killed him."

"Enough," yelled Stoick, "they gave us the nest, they deserve us to listen to them."

"We just deserve to explain ourselves?" Ruff huffed in disbelief.

"You gave us the nest but you also did something despicable by going to the enemies," Spitelout declared. "You realize you all betrayed your tribe, for a runt, a good-for-nothing…"

"Stop that ! You don't know anything !"

Astrid's yell stopped Spitelout in his tracks. Seeing her parents once more and being yelled at by the whole village was harder than she thought, just as hard as when she was declared a traitor.

"You judge us, all of you, you bunch of thick-headed yack-butts! But you haven't seen anything! You know nothing of what's really happening, and you know nothing about him!"

"So that's is? You got enamored with a boy and you followed him like this!" Munch huffed in disbelief.

"It's not that!"

It wasn't a lie, she fell in love with Hiccup only after their friendship started. She was going to yell angrily, but Gothi came toward the young girl and put a hand on her arm, raised her stick to show she was about to speak and then looked at Mulch and Spitelout:

"This girl might know more than you think. Let's all hear what she and her friends have to say before judging them. They had been loyal enough to risk to come back and show you what you searched all your life; you owe them that at least. I can feel the gods have plans for us, and we can't ignore those."

Astrid could have hugged her, but she whispered a simple thank you. Stoick turned to her and told her to speak. Her head had cooled down a little, and she expressed herself with more control:

"I _wasn't_ in love with him. Do you have to be in love to try to understand someone?! I just understood there was something we got wrong! We thought dragons were only blood-thirsty monsters, but if a human baby could be adopted and raised by them, then maybe there was more to it. Isn't his existence the proof of it? I had to understand, I wanted to know by myself. After he escaped, we met by chance and he showed me he could be kind. He showed me, and then to the five of us, that things weren't as we all thought. We all managed to tame those dragons, doesn't that prove something too?"

Before anyone in the crowd could say anything, the other teens joined her to speak about what they saw and experienced, how they befriended and trained dragons. They explained how they fled on dragons' back and explored island they never saw before. In the end, most of the hard-headed Vikings were conquered by their stories. Stoick still hated dragons but he could understand that for young people like them, discovering so much wasn't something they could resist to. When they spoke about the Red Death, people turned toward Stoick and he repeated what he said previously:

"It's true that this dragon is gigantic, it's something like we never saw. I saw the dragons feeding him with countless preys and yet it was still trying to get more."

"And you had to capture your chief for that?" Asked Gobber to the teens in a saracastic tone.

"We were pretty sure he wouldn't listen to us otherwise," Tuff explained.

Gobber couldn't contest that, his friend could be hard-headed indeed. He looked at the dragons and finally said:

"So, those really won't try to hurt us?"

"No, as long as you're nice to them...I can show you..." Fishlegs proposed.

Gobber hesitated but Astrid came to him, grabbed his hand and led it toward Meatlug who just sniffed him before licking his paw. The smithy almost jumped in surprise at this. The Gronkle just shook her short tail and looked at Gobber with wide loving eyes. Everyone was watching her with wide eyes, the dragon didn't look ferocious in the slightest, but more like a dog wanting to play. Fishlegs caressed her, she was really a sweet-heart. Maka was the second one to approach, she went to her son hesitantly.

"Are you sure he won't hurt you?"

"Oh believe me, Maka, he is fiercely loyal toward you boy," Stoick said, remembering how Hookfang threatened him earlier.

"It's okay, mom. He is rough at times, but he likes me. Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared," she replied.

If there was one thing Maka and Spitelout always shared, it was pride, none of them would ever want people to think they were cowards. So she didn't move when Snotlout had Hookfang approach her. Spitelout immediately felt scared for his wife, and that was a fear he had way no shame to express.

"Maka, back away!"

"It's okay dad!"

"If that thing hurt your mother I murder it!"

Hookfang sniffed and Snotlout took his mother's hand to approach it from the dragon's snout. He felt that she was tense, but she let her son do as he wished and her fingers grazed the scales. Hookfang cooed and snuggled slightly against her. Maka smiled awkwardly, and took her hand away, still not very reassured. She turned to her son:

"Okay, he seems nice..."

"One day, I'll make you fly on his back."

The idea seemed to make Maka a little more hesitant. Yet her example was followed and some Vikings approached the dragons, all pretty amazed that they were not trying to kill them. Spitelout eventually did come to Hookfang as well. Not everyone was sharing the feeling. Some Vikings, Mildew among them, were baffled and repulsed by what they were seeing. Were those fools really considering forgiving dragons?

"That's all nice and good, but are you really all forgetting what they did?"

"No one is forgetting, but it could finally stop an endless war," Stoick declared.

"He is right," Gobber said, "we could finally have peace, those beasts can obviously be friendly."

Mildew grumbled, still head-strong. He had fought and feared dragons all his life, he wasn't going to love those beasts all suddenly! The only ones who weren't focusing that much on the dragons were the Hoffersons. Astrid's parents approached once more and her guts contorted again. She didn't say anything, this time she felt speechless. They didn't look very angry, but hurt and hesitant. Stormfly kept an eye on them, feeling the tension.

"Do you understand what you did?" Asked her father in a heart-breaking voice

"I know, I'm sorry..."

"Do you realize how worried we were? What it was like every day to wake without knowing what was happening to you? To wonder whether you were alive or not?"

"I couldn't stay in jail, mom, dad..."

"We don't reproach you your escape! You should have told us! You should have told us way sooner! I don't care whether or not it was a good idea, you shouldn't have lied to us all that time!" Her mother yelled.

"I knew you couldn't listen to me if I tried to tell you! I knew you would tell the chief or forbid me to see him..."

"So that's it, you just don't trust us?!" Olga huffed.

"It's not that! But I know you! Don't tell me you wouldn't have done it!"

Both of them knew that she was right, that they would have indeed forbad her to ever see this boy, but they were both still too upset to calmly acknowledge it.

"It's not..."

A hand on Olga's shoulder stopped her and they all were a little surprised to see Maka, Snotlout's mother.

"Come on, guys, if I can forgive my son for his lies, you can do the same. And your lass went through a lot."

Olga then did something that Astrid found pretty surprising: she just dropped her head and remained silent. Usually, Olga wouldn't show herself that compliant. And why was Snotlout's mother defending her? While it was true that Maka was way less annoying than her husband and son, she never really did anything to make Astrid like her in particular. Olga sighed and Egil rubbed her back before turning back to his daughter. Stormfly went beside Astrid and curled her tail around her protectively. The young girl stroked her dragon:

"It's alright, girl, it's alright."

Her parents were about to tell more when a sound attracted everyone's attention: A howl was heard from the sky.

The five riders knew exactly who it was, but what was going on to have him calling them? It couldn't mean anything good. They looked at one another, Astrid immediately jumped on Stormfly's back in spite of her parents trying to stop her. The others riders did exactly the same and they flew away. As they went up, Fishlegs immediately saw what was wrong: five shadows approaching Berk.

"Hum, guys, who are those?"

"It's them!" Yelled Hiccup who came at their level. "It's Starlight!"

They all knew about Starlight and her family, and they all understood that they couldn't let them approach Berk. They all took their weapons and attacked the newcomers. Roars and shrieks were heard as they clashed, Hookfang fired at Asger who bit his neck, and Snotlout yelled at first, but then slammed his hammer again the Night Fury's snout hard. Stormfly and Summer clawed and bit each other, while Astrid would hurt the Night Fury with her axe as much as she could. Fishlegs came to assist her, Meatlug biting and firing at her as much as she could.

Hiccup and Toothless went to fight Darkness, the fastest of the family, when Starlight blocked their way, her jaw open, ready to maim Hiccup. The boy held his sword, ready to defend himself and his brother, when the fifth shadow pushed Starlight away roughly, and the two recognized Calla. The two big females started to claw at each other, and her sons attacked Starlight as well.

" _Toothless, go beneath her!_ "

His brother did as such, and Hiccup stabbed Starlight in the belly. She immediately jerked when she felt the blade. Hiccup went to try to stab her again when a blow in his back painfully threw him away from Toothless's back. The Night Fury plunged to catch him. Darkness went after them and Toothless went as fast as he could. Rocks were beneath, he had to catch him. He felt the other behind him, trying to catch him and stop him from saving his brother!

Darkness's fangs grazed Tootless's tail's fins just when he was getting close to Hiccup, the boy was getting closer to the rocks. Just as he was about to crash against the stone, Hiccup's chest was caught in Tootless's jaws. The shock sent pain and coldness in his whole body, he was shivering like crazy. For a moment, he was unable to move because of that and of Toothless's speed when he sharply went up. He saw Snotlout and the twins fighting Asger. He saw Fishlegs and Astrid battling against Summer, Stormfly was struggling against her while Meatlug was hitting their opponent. His mother was fighting Starlight, two impressive shadows darker than night.

Toothless only stopped long enough to jerk Hiccup on his back, the boy gripped his scales and stabilized himself. Toothless immediately went to confront Starlight instead of Darkness. He shot her in the head and made her roar in pain. Calla immediately bit her neck strongly. Yet Darkness soon went to attack them. Hiccup sliced him with his sword as much as he could while Toothless was fighting him. He managed to hurt his back badly, yet it wasn't enough, his skin was thick.

"Hiccup!"

He turned his head to see Astrid who was above him. Summer had been knocked off by Meatlug and fell in the ocean. Fishlegs had left to help Calla while she went to Hiccup

"Just hold him still!" She shouted.

Hiccup nodded and whispered what she said to Toothless. They threw themselves at Darkness, and once again they meet into a storm of fangs and claws. Toothless went for his neck but thrusted his fangs in his shoulder instead. Darkness went to shoot a plasma blast on Toothless, but Hiccup seized his jaw and snout with his arms and maintained his mouth shut. Toothless circled him with his tail and tried to hold him still as much as he could. Darkness shook his head forcefully, Hiccup's thigh grippled Toothless harder than ever to hold on. He sunk his teeth in his snout just to hurt him, Darkness growled in pain. He shook his head harder and scratched Hiccup with his paw, making him loose his grip. His back paw dug into Toothless's body as he struggled harder and trashed. It effectively freed him from their grip, but too late.

Astrid and Stormfly had placed themselves above them. The girl took her dagger, put it between her teeth to have her hands free. She wouldn't use her axe, it wouldn't be as easy for what she wanted to do. She jumped while the two were holding Darkness.

She almost missed but she crashed on his back. She felt pain in her ribs and just had the time to hold on. The dragon roared and tried to spin round to get her off of his back, she was pressuring the wound Hiccup made. She held on tight, her nail digging painfully in his skin and scales, the dagger still tightly held in her mouth. Stormfly pushed the black dragon hard to stop his spinning movement. Darkness retaliated by shooting at the Nadder who barely avoided it. Stormfly squeezed her tail around him and bit his neck to try to stop his struggles.

Astrid lost no time: she climbed up his back and took hold of his neck. He roared again, tried to push her off with his paws but Stormfly stopped him from doing much damages. Astrid held on, one arm was wrapped tightly around his neck, she took hold of her dagger. Darkness shot Stormfly in the shoulder, and pushed her away violently. Then he started to spin round again, and the girl felt like she was going to be sick as everything blurred around her. Yet she focused, she had to! Toothless threw himself at him and once again stopped his moves as much as he could. It gave Astrid room to act. She aimed for his left eye and managed to plant her knife right in there.

A scream of pure agony was heard. Darkness stopped spinning and just trashed around in the air. It was even harder for her to hold on, yet she felt a rageful joy: she did it! He trashed even more and freed himself from Toothless. Her legs still tight around him she ignored the nausea buidling in her stomach and stabbed again. She missed the second eye but still managed to hurt him. Once again Stormfly pushed the dragon hard to unbalance him. With a yell of rage, Astrid gripped tighter than ever and aimed again. Another scream followed. This time, Darkness just fell down, toward the dark and deep water.

She yelled in fear but was suddenly gripped by claws which teared her away from Darkness. She looked up to see Stormfly holding her. Her whole body was trembling, Stormfly gently caught her in her jaw to bring her on her back again.

Asger, who freed himself from their enemies, went to attack and Nadder and girl, but Toothless and Hiccup attacked him. Snotlout and the twins went to fight with them, but Summer who wasn't knocked out for long had gotten out of the water and went at them. One plasma blast touched Barf and Blech who roared in pain and were unbalanced. They fell toward the water while the twins screamed and Snotlout was left alone facing Summer.

Toothless seized Asger's neck with his claws digging through his back while Hiccup planted his sword through his jonction of his wing and back. The big black dragon put up a fight and pushed Toothless away vigourously, Hiccup remaining on his back, alone. If what Astrid did worked on Darkness, he would do the same with Asger. His enemy tried to use his paw to get Hiccup off of him, drawing blood out of the boy's side and back. He shouted in pain. Stormfly and Astrid attacked immediately, Toothless and the Nadder seized Asger with their paws and jaws, stopping him from defending himself against the two little humans.

Astrid and Hiccup wounded Asger as much as they could, but he had really thick skin and scales. He was struggling and shooting plasma blast, the teens could hardly hold on, many times they found themselves at the verge of falling in the water. More and more blood was spreading, Toothless and Stormfly were resisting against the pain Asger inflicted upon them with his struggles, his big paws, his tails and jaws were almost too strong for them. He managed to push Stormfly away, and bit Toothless in the neck, but then, spikes were planted in his belly. Stormfly threw herself on him, holding him with her paws she tried to tear hiw jaw away from Toothless's neck, her spiky tail whipping against her opponent's body. Toothless bit with ferocity as well, and proceeded to blind him by shooting plasma in his eyes. Asger's moves weakened and his trashing were less violent. The teens knew they finally had a chance:

"His head!" They yelled together

They both slammed their weapons against the big dragon's head. He had a thick skull, yet it was enough to make blood spread out, make him still his moves and fall in the ocean. Their dragons caught them back before they could fall with him. They had countless bruises and several cuts, but they were okay.

Suddenly, Starlight who got away from Calla rushed toward them, Hiccup held his sword and planted it in her paw when she whipped him away from Toothless's back. His sword remained in her paw, but the blow had been violent, and one of her claw drew a big cut through his stomach. Stormfly, Astrid and Toothless couldn't get him back as they were attacked by Starlight who would have killed Stormfly with a plasma blast if it hadn't been for Calla crashing into her violently. Astrid looked down in panic and saw Hookfang below, but she couldn't see whether or not they caught Hiccup.

She forced herself to focus on the fight, she went to jump on Starlight's back, when she saw Calla shooting a plasma blast right in her opponent's mouth. Starlight chocked and started to fall, yet she managed to fly again before falling in the water. She went back to assault them, when her daughter rushed at her and stopped her, pushing her away to retreat. The dragons shot fire at them, Starlight tried to do the same, but Calla's shot through her mouth had wounded her. Summer's wing was wounded in the process and Starlight, fearing her daughter to die as well, decided to fly away with her.

The twins emerged from the ocean, their dragon having a hard time to fly, wounded and exhausted. The two teens were soaked and also tired. Calla was about to catch the rogue Night Furies back, when she started to loose balance. The fight has left her hurt and exhausted, and Hookfang just had time seize her before she fell. Astrid approached him and saw that Snotlout was holding Hiccup, the wild boy was obviously unconscious. Hookfang was also bleeding, thank the gods the Monstrous Nightmare was strong.

"Come on everyone!"

They landed back on the grass and the Hooligans rushed toward them. None of them approached too closely as they saw the teens and their dragons, a wounded and half-unconscious but very big Night Fury held by the Monstrous Nightmare, another Fury, and Snotlout holding the Dragon's Prince. The young boy laid his cousin on the ground and his eyes searched for Gothi:

"He is wounded, he needs help!"

Astrid jumped at his side as well as the others, she looked at the wound worriedly and put pressure on the cut. Toothless was going back and forth between his mother and his brother, agitated.

"I don't care what they say, we kill him!" Someone yelled

"They saved us!" Mulch and Bucket both shouted.

"They brought those furies here," Mildew yelled

"Will you shut up, you fools! Without them we would be dead!" Gobber roared

"ENOUGH!" Gothi!"

The chief's big booming voice made some people shut up, and Gothi emerged from the crowd to look at the boy. She gestured to Bucket to help her carry the boy.

"Stoick," a woman who was siding with Mildew said, "you can't let that boy live, he is an enemy!"

"Not anymore, didn't you see, you fool?! Our honour command us to repay our debt."

"They'll bring the God's anger upon us," Mildew claimed

"You're not touching him or any of them," Astrid's mother growled, "I'll murder you if you do!"

She put herself protectively before the teens and the dragons and was joined immediately by her husband. Mildew was about to tell her they were only the traitor's parents, when several people went at her side, her husband of course, but also several warriors, all showing they were siding with them. Obviously, a lot of people were agreeing with them. Years and years of hatred against dragons wouldn't vanish like that, even now that they knew the truth, some Hooligans still felt fear toward them. Yet most of them couldn't ignore what they just learned, and honor commanded them to help the dragons and the riders just as they did.

Hiccup was carried by Bucket in Gothi's hut, the shaman chose him because she knew he would be careful and trustworthy. Astrid followed them worriedly, what if Hiccup died? Did she led him to his death by insisting they had to return to Berk? They could have stayed in the wild, why did she do that?! If she had been in the right state to think, she would have recollected why they did it, but she was exhausted and sickly worried.

Stoick instructed Gobber and the Hofferson to follow them as well, to protect the young boy. Mulch followed Bucket as well, he had been very skeptic at first when the teens arrived, but he had been convinced and honor indeed commanded them to help him. Other villagers who sided with Gothi and Stoick also stayed around to make sure everything would be alright. Toothless started to follow them, and the villagers were wary, but Astrid made sure the dragon stayed at a safe distance from the humans. The others teens were about to follow as well, but Fishlegs held them back.

"Our dragons are hurt, we need to take care of them, and we need to tend our own wounds too."

The teens weren't as hurt as their animals, but they still had to be taken care of. The dragons all had big gashes, burns and were exhausted. Snotlout, though he wanted to follow his cousin, remained with Hookfang, and Stoick stayed with them to make sure no one would hurt them. He looked at his brother who seemed conflicted about this, watching his son but not going toward him either. Maka, however, stayed at her son's side, not approaching Hookfang too much, but assisting him still and tending to his own wounds. She was still not relaxed near Hookfang but she forced herself to remain collected.

"Are you sure he won't bit you? He was nice earlier, but now he is hurt, wild animals can be dangerous when they're hurt."

"We're not the kind to back away from danger, aren't we?"

"No, but that doesn't mean I want you to be hurt."

"Don't worry mom."

Fishlegs's parents also stayed around, as well as some villagers to help with the dragons. The Thorston watched over their kids and took care of them but refused to approach the dragons. Some other warriors remained around just to protect them. Fishlegs also took care of Calla. Stoick watched over this at his brother's side, he heard Spitelout murmur:

"What's happening, Stoick? It's just so so weird."

"I know. But I can swear you that what I saw change everything..."

"I know, I believe you. But the kids with dragons...My own son!"

"Yeah, it's seem like it's not real. Well, we'll see. We'll reunite again tomorrow to talk about this...Maybe you should go see your son."

Spitelout shrugged, but eventually did so. Meanwhile, Hiccup had been put in Gothi's hut, and Astrid was calming down Toothless to stop him from going in the hut, Stormfly was helping her with it. When the Night Fury was finally calm, Astrid sat down, knowing she couldn't enter right now. Her whole body was sore, she took the time to pay some attention to the blood on her, she would need to be healed. Some warriors were around, guarding the hut, some told her that she had to be taken care of, but she didn't listen or even hear. It was as if she was in a trance. Two persons went at her side, she didn't need to look at them to know it was her parents. Stormfly growled a little, but Astrid hushed her gently. An arm was passed around her shoulder gently, it was her father.

"Don't ever lie to us or hide something from us again. You don't imagine how sickly worried we were all that time! You should have told us way before."

"I know...I'm sorry."

A cloth was passed on her gashes and she saw her mother starting to take care of her.

"Come, we have to go home."

"No, I want to stay here."

Her father was about to protest but Olga stopped him. She continued to take care if her and asked her daughter:

"You really aren't in love with that boy?"

"I told you, I didn't follow him for that. I was just fascinated at first, you know? I just wanted to understand. And I just couldn't pretend he was an enemy after...After the battle against the Outcasts. I felt so...Just so wrong...They failed to do anything to me, but the simple fact they tried it was..."

"I know, deary," her mother whispered, "it also happened to me once. Thank Thor, I got help. From Maka and other warriors."

Astrid didn't know what astonished her the most: to know that her mother lived the same thing, or to know that Snotlout's mom helped hers in such a way.

"Really?"

"Yes. You're far from the first or the only one on Berk. Other women, girls, and sometimes some boys and men went through that as well," her father added. "It's something dishonorable warriors do often."

Astrid didn't know what to say at this. She knew of course that she wasn't the only one to whom it happened, yet the shame she had felt made her imagine she would be looked down. Yet here she could see it wasn't the case at all, in fact it seemed like her own parents were confronted to it. It was somehow a relief to know she wasn't alone.

"If someone had asked you to consider Maka as an enemy, would you have been able to do it?"

"No. No, and I can't blame you for escaping jail, or for trying to learn more about that boy. But you should have told us about this way sooner."

"It was difficult," Astrid admitted. "I'm sorry. Please, don't blame Hiccup."

"Hiccup?"

"That's how...we named him."

"He saved you, we are thankful. But tell me the truth, he didn't try anything with you?" Asked her father.

"No! Believe me, he didn't," she said, almost laughing when she remembered him asking what a kiss was.

A drop of water fell on her father's forehead, and others followed.

"Okay...Listen, go home with your mom, I'll stay here, and I swear you I'll stop anyone from hurting your Hiccup or his Night Fury."

She hesitated but her mother pulled her gently and she decided to follow her. Quickly, the rain was denser and the dragons had to to search for a refuge along with their humans.

The rain was pouring on Astrid's face and though she was still sickly worried for Hiccup, exhausted and hurt, she started to smile in spite of herself. She was back on Berk, and this time, she had nothing to hide. She knew who she was, finally she knew it, and she could show it to everyone: she was Astrid Hofferson, a daughter, a friend, a warrior, a Viking, a wilding, an explorer, a girl who tamed dragons, a girl who killed dragons and humans alike...She was the one who decided to question everything Vikings ever believed, the one who decided to change, the one who rode on dragons, the one who refused to be forced to choose. She was all of this, she was the Dragons' Princess.

 **Astrid finally found some closure to what happened to her. Now will Hiccup be able to be accepted by the rest of the Hooligans and will Stoick finally knows? Yeah, I know you're already cursing me, HiccupHaddockH. We're getting close to it, promise.**

 **Now some of you might wonder what the rogue family was doing here, this question will be answered in the next chapter.**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Hi everybody ! Next chapter is earlier, but I must I was writing the previous one along with this one as well.**

 **Now, I know I said I would explain why the rogue family came to Berk in this chapter, but it would have made it way too long, so I decided to keep that for later. But I didn't forgot.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviews, it's always good to know what people think of the story, and constructive reviews are always appreciated! Enjoy!**

A few days passed after the attack, a few days during which the five riders had some rest, but still took time to take care of their dragons and started to teach other villagers about them. Spitelout in particular was pushing his son to do as much as possible, for rest was for the weak. The dragons would stay in barns, resting, and it wasn't such a bad thing as it would give the villagers time to get used to the idea of living with dragons.

One thing that enthusiasmed the riders was that some Hooligans actually showed an interest in trying to tame some. They visited Hiccup a lot, watching over him and helping Gothi to take care of him. The boy hardly woke up during that time, only long enough to eat or drink and would hardly remember afterward. It would seem like a dream each time.

Astrid hadn't forgotten her conversation with Snotlout, he didn't have the time to tell her the truth when they spoke and she still wanted to know. She was pretty sure now that he didn't want Hiccup dead, he had saved him after all and his fear for him had been genuine. Yet there had still been something off with him. However, she didn't take time to continue their conversation, she had a lot to think about: reconnecting with her parents, healing Stormfly, watching over Hiccup and answering questions from the villagers. Some were still hostile toward her, but a lot of them showed themselves more comprehensive.

Quite surprisingly, Stoick was helping them a lot, making sure that Hiccup was taken care of, that nobody would try to attack him, he would also make sure the teens and their dragons weren't being harassed or hurt by villagers.

Those few days were long and fast at the same time. When Hiccup regained consciousness, none of the riders were here, Gothi had told them to go home. The shaman went to Hiccup as soon as she saw his eyes fluttering. She put a hand on his forehead and rubbed it gently. At first, when he saw the old woman above him, the boy tried to back away, but the shaman put another hand on his chest and spoke softly to him:

"Shh...Calm down, calm down. I'm here to heal you...How are you feeling, boy?"

"N...Not very well."

"Stay where you are, I'll check up your wound. Are you thirsty?"

He only nodded and drank greedily when she gave him water. She took care of his wounds gently, Hiccup freaked out a little at first when he saw the stitches on his belly. Gothi simply explained that it was only to heal him. When he was calmed down, she left him to search for more medicinal herbs. Hiccup was compliant all the time but he was feeling quite uneasy here. Sure that place wasn't as bad as the jail, and it reminded him of Millie's hut, yet it didn't mean he wanted to stay in a foreign house for long. He eventually got on his feet, slowly and carefully.

He took a shy step outside, but stopped as he saw two men sitting and talking together near the entrance. One had a bucket over his head. They hadn't seen him, he was about to get back inside when a sound attracted his attention: Toothless cooing at him. He saw his brother coming toward him and the young boy felt in security with him around. The two men noticed him and looked at the boy while he was petting his dragon.

"Hum...Are you feeling better, boy?" Asked the man with the bucket.

He was surprised to hear them speak to him and he recognized the man: he had bitten him when he was imprisoned. He would probably want his revenge, yet the man had a soft gaze.

"Yes."

"Your dragon wouldn't go anywhere," the other man said.

"It's my brother."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you hungry?" Asked the tall man with a bucket.

"Yes..."

"Okay, I'll get you something. Astrid told me you didn't like cooked things."

"Astrid came here?"

It felt like he had dreamed of her coming. Maybe it wasn't dreams.

"Oh yes, she was watching over you. Her mother eventually insisted that she had to go home..."

"What are you talking about?" Asked someone.

They all turned their heads to see Astrid's mother coming toward them. Mulch explained her shortly and Olga went to Hiccup, though she stayed at a safe distance from him because of Toothless.

"I still didn't thank you for saving my daughter. I would have never forgave myself if my daughter had been raped. I'll always be grateful to you."

"So you're her mother?"

She nodded in response. He could see now some resemblance between the two of them. She sat with Mulch and Bucket and Hicup stayed with Toothless, sitting against his brother's flank, stroking his head. His brother told him that their mother was better, but she preferred to stay in the forest nearby.

"Stoick also came once to check up on you. Beware, he is still upset to know that they named you like his son," Mulch warned him.

"I noticed. Why?"

"Loosing his son was incredibly painful for him," Olga explained. "His baby was taken by a Night Fury."

"I know, he told me. But it's only a name. Is it really that bad for him? If dragons had to be always so sad every children you kill from them, they would never be over."

"Dragons don't mourn maybe, but humans does, I know you were raised by dragons, but some took _babies_ ," Mulch replied.

"You're really like every human. I don't hate you, but you're often arrogant. Are you sad when you kill a baby sheep or yack? No, because they are not humans, but they are still cubs, and their mother are sad when you kill one. You can't hear them, but I can. Why should dragons think of humans as better? To us, you're just other animals, with strange homes and strange ways. You think you are better, but we don't think that."

They were all stunned to hear such a discourse. They never thought of what animals could think, to them, human's life was more precious, but they realized that other species had no reasons to think as such. Indeed, why should a dragon have more consideration for a human than a yack? Olga spoke:

"Alright, it's true that dragons have no reason to respect us more than animals. But we can't let them burn our house and take our children..."

"Yes, I know. We all kill to survive, I don't hate you for that. But don't hate us because we do the thing you do."

This left a silence again until Bucket stood up:

"Okay, I'm getting you food. Fish is okay?"

Hiccup nodded thankfully and smiled. Suddenly, he felt pain on the back of his head as something hit him.

"Ouch!"

He saw Gothi behind him with an annoyed look. Toothless tensed at first but relaxed when he saw this was the woman who took care of Hiccup all that time. She ordered him to go back in bed immediately, and Hiccup felt that he would have no choice in the matter. Olga chuckled and spoke to the shaman:

"You know, he could come into our home. You don't have much place in here. Bucket went to fetch some food for him, once he is done eating he can move in our house."

"Why not? Let him rest for a day more, I think he should be fine to walk tomorrow, but he can't push it too hard."

Olga nodded and went to fetch Astrid who was happy to know that her friend was awake now. When she saw Hiccup, she hugged him gently to avoid hurting him furthermore. He embraced her as well, relieved to see that she was fine. She explained him the progresses they made while he was eating and when she helped him to walk toward the Hofferson House. Toothless followed them, watched their surrounding carefully.

While they were crossing the village, all the people around turned their heads and whispered to one another when they saw the feral boy walking with his dragon, Astrid, Mulch, Bucket and Gothi. Hiccup entered Astrid's house with curiosity, wondering in what kind of place she lived. It was bigger than Gothi's hut but not that different from it. Egil wasn't home right now, but Olga greeted Hiccup warmly.

"Come, you'll sleep in Astrid's room. My husband and I prepared you a bed."

"Where is your husband?"

"Outside, hunting. However, I can't have your dragon inside."

Hiccup explained Toothless he couldn't come in, so the dragon simply went on the roof while the humans entered the house. In normal times, she wouldn't have allowed a boy she barely knew to sleep in her daughter's room like that, but Astrid assured her they slept at each other's side many times and that he never tried anything. She let her daughter show him her room.

"Here it is," Astrid told him, "we'll be fine here."

"Thanks...I'm happy to be with you again."

"Me too...I was really worried for you."

They both smiled at each other, and felt once more the same emotion they felt when they ran together in the green meadow. Hiccup lowered his head, blushing a little before speaking again:

"They did those stranges things to me, they call it stitches."

"It's normal, don't worry. I got some too."

She showed him her own stitches, though she hadn't been wounded as badly, some gashes had been quite bad. Hiccup didn't touch those but rubbed his head against her temple, and maybe it was because she was used to it, but Astrid found this quite comforting.

"How are the others?" Asked he.

"They're okay, they are taking care of their dragons. One thing we still don't understand is why they attacked us suddenly."

"I don't know, we should ask mother, she is in the forest."

"Not for now, you still need to rest. And I think the others will want to see you."

Indeed, the other teens soon heard of him getting better and all went to visit him, each telling them different things about how the days went by while he was recovering. Hiccup listened to them all and asked some questions as well. Though he was really happy to see them and to know they were fine, he was still glad when he and Astrid were finally left alone and could enjoy some times together again. Astrid took the time to explain him some things about how the village worked, only simple things, to avoid overwhelming him.

The next day, Fishlegs came to the Hoffersons' house. He was pretty impatient to show Hiccup the village, he promised himself he would do that along with Astrid. Hiccup couldn't see Toothless anywhere, he was probably gone fishing or hunting, or maybe he went to check on their mother. He followed the two and though he was uneasy because of every people looking at him, he was reassured by his friend's presence. Also, people were looking at him but they weren't trying to hurt him. How strange it felt to be in a human village in plain day, with no fight...Astrid showed him the Great Hall and explained him everything they would do in there. They also showed him the well and the seamstress's shop.

"We will have to make you another shirt by the way, yours is really worn out," Astrid pointed out.

"Why not?"

"Hey, the bakery is close by, I need to go there," Fishlegs stated.

"Bakery?"

"Yeah, we'll explain you..."

Astrid suddenly stopped talking, she had seen Hookfang in the sky, and it reminded her of something.

"I'll let you guys go alone, I have somehting to do as well, I'll try to do this quickly."

She left them and while Hiccup wished to held her back, he knew that Astrid wasn't one to be stopped when she wanted to do something. So he and Fishlegs just ent their way as they had decided. While the two boys went at the bakery, Astrid went to find Snotlout, who was landing with Hookfang. They had taken a flight to see whether or not his dragon was fine with flying. He jumped down and started to stroke Hookfang's head before seeing Astrid walking toward him.

"Hey, you came to check on us?"

"There is a conversation we never finished," she reminded him.

"What?" Then he seemed to remember. "Oh, yeah...I'm telling you, there is nothing wrong."

"Come on Snoltout, you saved his life so I believe you when you say you don't want to hurt him, but you have been acting weird nonetheless. So what is it?"

The boy bit his lips and looked everywhere, as if he wanted to find an issue to this. He stopped petting Hookfang, instead he was rubbing his hands and neck nervously. What the hell could be so wrong with him? Maybe he did like Hiccup but was torn between his affection for his cousin and the title he coveted. Yes, that seemed like the most logical thing.

"Tell me, I won't leave until you do."

"Drop it, Astrid."

"No, I'm not. Tell me what the problem is! I know there is one!"

"No, you'll mock me!"

"I won't, I swear you. Now spill it, you perfectly know me, I won't back away. You won't be able to hide it forever, and you should really do it while I ask nicely."

He paced a little around, twitching his fingers. To be honest, she had rarely seen him like this. It was quite rare, but for once she really didn't want to hit him, he had saved Hiccup's life, he deserved gratitude for that. Eventually he sighed and turned to her.

"Fine…I'm worried that if he doesn't accept to be Stoick's son…And if people don't accept him as the next chief…Then it will really be me who will have to do it."

"Wait, but you…"

"I don't want to be chief! I said it, now I said it: I don't want to be chief!"

This stunned her, she gaped slightly, she wouldn't have expected that in a billion year: hearing Snotlout, the kid who was so arrogant and so proud of his future status, say that he didn't want it! Snotlout seemed somehow amazed as well, as if he didn't believe he finally said it.

"But you always seemed to be happy to become chief."

"I used to be, it seemed so great...but the more it goes, the more I hate it. It seems cool to be chief, but it's not, you have everyone looking at you, everyone expect everything from you! And it's so difficult, you just can't do a mistake! Some times ago Stoick and my father started to explain me how many things I'll have to do and watch for and...I realized I don't want to be Stoick's heir. I'm fine being a big warrior, going to adventure and quests and battles, but chief…I know everyone says it's an honour and my dad…My dad would kill me if he could hear me."

"That's why you pretend to be happy about it…You don't want your dad to know you have no wish to do this…"

He nodded and went on:

"I won't lie, at first, when I learned he was my cousin, I thought that he would indeed stole my title and I was scared. And I didn't know what to do. But, after that, I spent all the night thinking and I understood it was maybe a chance for me. For years I wondered if I wanted to be chief or not, and when I started to imagine someone as chief, I...I realized it felt better."

When she heard that, she realized she didn't know Snotlout at all. He was scared, he didn't want to deceive his father so he couldn't tell anyone that he was actually afraid and not willing to be the tribe's Heir. So the only way he found to try to overcome that was to act as if he was proud and all, to hide all he was really feeling. Now she remembered all the time she heard Spitelout and Snotlout talking and she realized his father was actually expecting a lot, more than the other parents. Even Maka who was softer and more comprehensive was pushing her son to be the best.

"Now mock me if you want, but don't tell my dad…"

"I won't mock you, I understand."

Now this time, it was his turn to gape at her words. She went on.

"Even if it's an honour, it's also a big charge. I don't know if I would be able to handle it either. I would be totally excited, sure, but that would be also scary, I guess."

"Really?"

His relieved face made her momentarily forget all the dislike she had for him, it seemed like an enormous weight was taken off of his shoulders. If she had been totally honest with him, she would have told him she would have been much more excited than scared to be chief, but Snotlout didn't need to hear that. Plus she was only half-lying, she would indeed be aware of all the responsabilities it implied and she would have probably be a little afraid too.

"Yeah, and don't make me say what I didn't say, I'm not scared easily, but when it comes to big responsibilities…Well my mother always said that those who weren't a little scared when it came to the well-being of their tribes are fools. I don't know if I would be a good chief either."

"Same for me! I would be okay to speak my mind in councils, but having to decide of everything and handle every problems around…That's not what I want."

"And you hope that with Hiccup back you won't have to be chief, nor to admit to your father you don't want this."

"Yes. But is it only possible?"

That's something she also asked herself: would the Hooligans accept Hiccup as their Heir? They accepted him to live in their village, it was another matter to accept him as their chief. And would Hiccup want this?

"I don't know...We would have to tell Stoick first. What will he say?"

"I hope he won't be mad," Snotlout mumbled.

Though Astrid was about to say that he woudn't get mad knowing his son was alive, she realized he would probably get mad at them for not telling him the truth. Yet it would have meant betraying Hiccup. They were definitely not out of the woods yet.

While Astrid and Snotlout were talking, Fishlegs was bringing Hiccup to the bakery, telling him how his parents almost made him the baker's apprentice before changing their mind to make him Gobber's apprentice intead. Svala, who was preparing the bread, seemed quite surprised to see the feral child enter here in spite of the new situation. Fishlegs smiled to her as if to show her there was nothing to fear at all. He also made a gesture for Hiccup to come, he could see his friend wasn't really comfortable.

The dragon-boy was smelling this strange odour. It wasn't a bad smell but it was a little smothering, and he wondered what it was for. He could see the fire in what seemed like a strange mini-house, and the warm strange things the woman would take out. He started to feel the need to get on his four but resisted, he had to behave more humanly in the village. He looked at the woman who was watching him with some wariness, yet her presence made him uneasy. He turned to Fishlegs and asked what the warm strange things were:

"What is that ?" Asked Hiccup.

"It's bread."

"Bread ?"

"Yes...You never ate any ?"

He just shook his head. He didn't remember Millie having this, or maybe once or twice, but he didn't pay attention, and anyway he wouldn't eat her human food, never. Svala huffed in surprise, though she immediately realized it was logical.

"Well, let's fix that," she tore a bit of bread before giving it to Hiccup, "here, eat this."

Hiccup looked at the piece of food and felt torn between wariness and curiosity. He took it and sniffed it.

"...Thanks."

He chewed on it slowly, it tasted strange, not bad, but strange. He never tasted anything like this! Humans had strange ideas when it came to food...Yet he had to admit this was creative.

"It's good, thank you."

"Do you know how we do it?"

He just shook his head and she and Fishlegs started to explain him. Though it still seemed weird, Hiccup was really curious to know more. He was starting to like Svala too, she was a nice woman, and she reminded him of Millie, sturdy, tall and motherly. After that, they went to the forge, where Gobber was waiting for Fishlegs. The two boys entered but Hiccup stopped moving when he saw Stoick inside. The chief had came for talk with his friend, both Gobber and he were surprised when they saw Hiccup coming along with him.

"Bringing some company, lad?" Asked Gobber

"I wanted to show him the smithy, he doesn't even really knows what it is," then he turned to Hiccup, "don't worry, you can come in."

Though he knew that Stoick was now an ally from what Astrid told him and his father, some bad memories would still make him cautious. The man looked at him and sighed:

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna beat you or anything."

"You already did."

"You were considered as an enemy back then. Things changed."

Still cautious, Hiccup took some steps in and started to look around.

"Well, I wasn't expecting the Dragons' Prince in my forge," Gobber admitted to Stoick.

"Neither did I, but there were a lot of unexpected things," his friend replied.

"What's a prince?" Asked Hiccup.

"Uh?"

"Prince. I never asked the others. You often called me like that but I don't know what it mean."

The three Hooligans were a little surprised at the question, then Gobber bursted into laughter. Hiccup tensed slightly at this and frowned.

"What? I just don't know..."

"Ah don't worry, kid, I'm not mocking you! I'm laughing at ourselves."

"Oh..."

"So you really know nothing about smithing? Well, first of all, be careful about what you touch. Fishlegs, explain him before returning to your work."

"Yes, sir!"

He took Hiccup by the arm and started to tell him about all the precaution to have in a forge while showing him every corner of it. Though it seemed a little complicated, Hiccup felt drawn to that, there was fire, warmth, yet it wasn't all closed, there were many openings. Plus, it seemed like it was possible to craft any kind of thing with everything there. In nature, even simple things could be difficult to create, here it seemed like anything was possible. Gobber and Stoick were watching the two boys:

"He is getting used to that quicker than I thought," Stoick murmured. "Maybe that boy will finally be human again just as Gothi said."

"Yeah, in the end we were right to listen to her. Mildew is gonna hate this."

"Strangely it doesn't bother me," the chief said with a smile.

It was the first smile he had in days, and Gobber was happy of that. Then, Stoick asked him something:

"Why did you laugh?"

"I don't know...We called him prince all the while and he doesn't even know what's a prince...It was really stupid if you think of it, dragons don't have any."

"Oh, you know it was just a nickname."

"Yeah, but it just shows how many illusions we can have."

That was something true, indeed. The two boys approached again, Fishlegs showing some drawings to Hiccup. He was done explaining the safety rules here, so he wanted to tell him more about his work.

"See, that's how we design things first."

"Design?"

"Yes, you can't just make an object like that, or maybe if it's a very simple one. You have to draw it first to have a better idea."

The two men looked at Fishlegs with some amusement, the boy seemed elated to explain his job to someone. Then, Stoick looked at Hiccup and he frowned: the boy was pale, and he looked a little dizzy.

"Kid, are you feeling alright? Aren't you supposed to rest?"

"Oh, Gothi said he could go out a little as long as he remained careful...Hiccup!"

The dragon-child had suddenly collapsed and his head would have hit the ground hard if Stoick hadn't caught him in time. Fishlegs saw with horror some blood appear on his shirt: his wounds had reopened.

Stoick immediately put the boy on his shoulders and carried him toward Gothi's hut, followed by Gobber and Fishlegs. They would be here soon, the old woman lived nearby. They walked quickly, Stoick could feel the boy's blood wetten his shoulder. He barged at the woman's door and opened it before she could. Gothi would have been angry if she hadn't immediately seen the unconscious boy. The man put the boy down on the bed.

"Take off his shirt, it will be easier," the shaman ordered

Stoick nodded and ripped it off, it would avoid him to move the wounded kid too much and the cloth was so old anyway that it would hardly be a loss. Gothi started to tend to his wounds and a loud bang was heard at the door. Gobber opened it to see Toothless roaring in worry.

"Stay out, you'll put a mess in the house!" Gothi shrieked.

Fishlegs tried to calm down Toothless who was trying to come in, sickly worried for his brother while the two men were trying to block his way. Eventually, they allowed him to come in, only restraining him enough to avoid him doing any mess in the house. Toothless sniffed his human brother, and moaned in despair. Gothi petted his snout and the beast looked at her in disbelief, as if her boldness was incredible to him. Yet he turned back his attention to Hiccup once more.

"Make the beast leave, it will do more damages than anything."

And the three spent at least five minutes making the dragon leave the house. Eventually, Toothless remained outside, but wouldn't leave the doorstep. Fishlegs went to warn his friend of what happened, Astrid would probably be mad at him for not being more careful with Hiccup! Meanwhile, the two men were still in the hut with the shaman.

"That dragon is persistent, we have to admit it," Gobber declared.

Stoick didn't answer and went to the elder. The boy was hurt but he would probably survive.

"Can you keep him there?"

"It would be better if he could be brought again to the Hofferson House."

Stoick nodded and was about to say something, when suddenly something caught his eyes. He hadn't noticed it earlier but when he did his attention was picked on: on the boy's shoulder was a strange mark which he could perfectly see now that he was shirtless. He crouched at the boy again and examined it closely, it looked quite like the one he possessed…In fact it looked like…

His eyes widened, his breath stopped and he felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him. The thought which struck his mind was way too hard, too crazy to handle, it couldn't be...

"Stoick, what's wrong?" Asked Gothi.

The chief looked at his shoulder and again at the boy's birthmark, trembling. Gobber and Gothi also looked at it, wondering why Stoick suddenly seemed like he had seen Helheim unfold before him. Gothi was the first to understand, then Gobber.

"Stoick, this mark..."

The chief's breathing shuddered and his eyes just couldn't leave the mark. Gobber looked at it as well, gaping at it. Gothi continued her work, keeping her mind straight, remembering that she had to heal that boy first. Gobber touched his friend's shoulder but got no reaction.

"Stoick? Stoick, you know that this could mean..."

His entire body shook and he left the hut hurriedly. When he was out, he felt his lungs burn, as if he had been unable to breath. A stone seemed to be in his chest, while his body was shaking. Gobber got out and wanted to speak to him but Stoick just raised his hand to stop him from talking. This boy was...Could it be? He needed answers...The only persons who could have some were the teens who befriended him. He had to find them!

He searched for the teenagers and found them easily as they were going toward Gothi's hut once they heard about Gothi's hut reopening. He went to the little group and Astrid froze when she saw him. Something wrong happened. The others noticed Stoick as well and got the same reaction.

"You, if you lied to me, it's time to say it, and be careful: I won't tolerate any other lie."

"We didn't..."

A look from the chief stopped Fishlegs immediately. Astrid got the courage to speak:

"What are you talking about?"

"Who is that boy, for real? And this name, Hiccup, did you really gave it to him, Snotlout?"

The whole group froze again: they were aware they would come to that eventually, yet it didn't mean it was easy. Snotlout and Astrid looked at each other, they spoke about it this morning and it was happening now. The twins would usually try to say something, but right now they were both speechless.

"No," Snotlout confessed. "I didn't."

"Then who?"

"He told me...That when the dragon took him, he could already say his name and that's why he kept that one," Astrid explained. "This name was given to him by his true parents."

It didn't have as much of an impact as seeing the birthmark, yet Stoick felt upside down again upon hearing this, it only confirmed what he understood. The chief's head went a little dizzy. That feral boy was _his_ Hiccup...His son was alive! His son had been alive all this time! He had mourned all these years, and his son was alive! Stoick didn't know if he was shocked or full of joy.

"The dragon who took him was a Night Fury," the young girl continued, "she found him in the middle of a fire during an attack. She took him because she feared he would die and then she kept him as her own cub."

"Since when do you know?"

"We didn't guess immediately," Astrid answered promptly, "well, _I_ didn't guess immediately, but when we came back to Berk, Snotlout said that he had the same name as his cousin, and we understood. It wasn't a long time ago. We feared you wouldn't believe us, and he didn't..."

"He didn't what?"

"He didn't want us to tell you."

This left Stoick stunned and hurt. Why? Why wouldn't his son tell him that he was alive? Yet soon enough the answer was clear: he had cursed after the boy, chased him, imprisoned him and his friend, threatened and beat him...Oh gods, what had he done?

 **Finally! We know why Snotlout was weird! Oh and Stoick knows about Hiccup, but that's only a little detail I guess. Lol!**

 **Don't hesitate to review!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **Hi everyone! Thanks to everyone who reveiwed, I was really happy to read all your comments! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.**

After hearig from the teens that Hiccup was indeed his son, Stoick went back to Gothi's hut once more, to know how the boy was doing. He found the shaman and Gobber in there and felt incredibly afraid when his eyes feel on the teen who was lying on the shaman's bed.

"He'll be fine," she said before he could ask, "His wounds didn't reopen fully, he should be awake soon."

"Stoick, are you okay?" Asked Gobber.

He explained them what the riders told him, and the shaman looked once more at the boy. Such an incredible thing, such an incredible fate! The gods planned that, there was no other way!

"I almost killed him, everything I did..."

"But you didn't kill him, you listened to me and Gobber. Some other chiefs would have been way crueller, and would have killed him," Gothi murmured.

"It's not an excuse..."

"Maybe not, but he is alive, and he is obviously willing to try to go back to us," Gobber pointed out.

A silence settled between them, and Stoick watched the limp form. His son, that boy was his son. It dawned on him that he had cursed Astrid for betraying the tribe, but in the end, she was the one who truly brought back his son to him! She hadn't been aware right away, but he felt nonetheless grateful toward the girl, he would remember that. Gobber smiled and murmured:

"He looks like Valka."

Gothi nodded in approval, she couldn't remember the woman's features exactly, but Valka was lanky and had the same brown hair. Gobber and Stoick remembered her a little more and indeed, they could now see some of her features in the boy's face. The chief approached the bed and gently put his big hand on the boy's right cheek, and he remembered then the toddler whose head wouldn't be big enough to fill that large hand. Now he had grown up, yet he was so small, so thin. Was it because he was born like that, or because his life in the wild had been really hard? A little boy among dragons, Thor had been with him to allow him to survive! His heart clenched, to think his son had been alive but far away from him all that time...He tried to push away this sadness, he was here, he thought he had lost Hiccup, but he was here. It seemed still unreal, as if he was going to wake up suddenly. He had dreamt more than once that his son was alive, but he had always woke up with the horrid realisation that it wasn't the case. He trusted his nails in his palms to assure himself this was real indeed.

"What will you do now?" Asked Gobber.

"What do you mean?"

"This changes everything. Will you take him to your home? And he is also the legitimate Heir of the tribe. Everyone will have to know about this eventually."

That was true...Odin, it would be complicated, and he had no idea what to do! Usually, even when he would have doubts, he would keep his head cool and find some ways to solve problems, sometimes using help and advices, but here...He just didn't know what to do!

"Maybe we should tell people around, it would be less awkward for us," Gothi suggested.

Stoick just nodded, suddenly they heard a soft grunt from the boy who started to move in his sleep to roll on his side. His father's hands went on his shoulder to push him gently on his back.

"Don't do this, you'll put pressure on your wounds," he whispered.

Once the boy was laid down properly, he adjusted the cover on him and for a moment it felt as if he was just taking care of his son normally. He looked once more at the birthmark and smiled, feeling tears coming back into his eyes...Hiccup...The day Hiccup had came to him at the cliff surfaced in his mind, no wonder he didn't want his friends to keep his identity a secret...How he had mistreated him! He remembered the boy's words: _"Do you really think he would want you to be sad? He would want something else!"_ He had tried to tell him, and maybe...Maybe Hiccup didn't hate him if he had told him something like this.

He felt Gobber's hand on his shoulder, his friend told him they should leave and let him rest, and though he wanted to stay, to watch over the boy, he knew it was indeed the best. They wished Gothi a good night and she assured Stoick she would take care of the boy well.

"We'll visit him once more tomorrow," Gobber declared while they were walking.

"Yes...Maybe I should let him stay with the Hoffersons for now. He didn't want me to know I was his father, he won't want to live with me."

"Stoick, don't feel so bad."

"I hit him Gobber, more than once..."

"He obviously forgave you if he came back. You should talk to him about it his once he'll be better instead of making conclusions."

"I know, easier said than done."

"Do you want to be alone or do you want us to talk?"

"I...Maybe I could use some times alone."

His friend nodded, knowing this wasn't personal at all. He told him to come whenever he would need, and went back to his home, leaving Stoick to his thoughts.

The next morning, Gothi was awoken by whimper and grunts. She opened her eyes to see the Dragons' Prince grunting in his sleep, maybe he was having a bad dream. She woke up and went to comfort him but the young boy was awaken before she could try. Kneeling at his side, she saw he was confused at being here.

"Don't move too much, my boy, your wounds reopened."

"What?"

She showed him his new stitches and explained him. He listened with calm, he was starting to really like that human, she was gentle and full of knowledge. She gave him a new shirt, for some reason the scent reminded him of Tuffnutt. She also gave him some berries, and he ate those hungrily. When he felt better, the boy stepped outside to get some fresh air...Only to find himself face to face with Olga. Astrid's mom looked angry, and the feral boy realised she looked even scarier than her daughter.

"Here you are! Do you know how worried everyone was?!" She yelled.

"Hum...But it's the stitches..."

"The stitches broke because you were reckless! You can't do things like this, do you realize you could have died already?!"

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"You can be! Going outside for a small walk would have been fine, but no, you and your friends had to wander around, so you could walk restlessly and...AH!"

A scream of surprise came out of her mouth when suddenly an enormous black form threw itself before her, and she saw sharp teeth right in front of her. A strong growl invaded her ear and head.

Meanwhile Stoick and Gobber had made their way toward Gothi's hut, in order to know how Hiccup was doing. They came running as they heard Astrid's mother scream, only to see her standing frozen while Hiccup was currently stopping a Night Fury from attacking her, hands on its snout. Immediately, Stoick feared for the boy: what if his wounds reopened? The two went toward them, the black dragon looked at the newcomers and growled threateningly at them.

" _Calm down, it's okay_ ," Hiccup growled softly before speaking to the humans: "It's okay, don't worry."

" _She was agressive! And who are those humans?_ " Calla hissed.

" _She wasn't, they are friends!_ "

"What's wrong with...Wait it's not your brother," Gobber pointed out, noticing Calla's size.

"No, it's my mother."

His mother? It felt wrong for Stoick to hear his son call anyone but Valka his mother, especially a dragon. He saw the animal growling at them while Hiccup was hugging its neck gently but firmly. Then it dawned on Stoick: this dragon…

"It's…the one who took you?"

Hiccup looked at Stoick, at first hesitant, still a little wary of the big man. He had no idea where Toothless was, maybe Calla had sent him to go sleep if he had watched over him that night. He would have preffered his brother to be here, he was tamer than their mother. Making sure he held his mom tightly enough, he replied:

"Yes. She saw me when I was a baby in a fire, and she saved me."

Hiccup smiled to the dragon warmly, and the mother rubbed her snout against his cheek, while growling at the humans around. The boy just caressed her more and Stoick was completely frozen. So it was this dragon! It was this one who took his little boy away and plunged him in agony for years! He had dreamed of that day, the day when he would see the monster who did that, and today he finally had it: he had under his eyes the dragon who took his son! Except that instead of a raging monster, it was a mother, one who actually took care of his boy all those years and who seemed overprotective...Hiccup was even hugging her. He felt like crying, had the Gods been cruel or generous?

" _It's okay, mom_ ," Hiccup cooed, " _you can go, I'm fine_."

The female dragon growled again but finally left, flying through the sky as quickly as she fell from it. A short silence followed and it was Olga who broke it.

"I can hardly reproach her this behaviour, I tend to be protective toward my Astrid."

"I'm sorry," Hiccup murmured.

"What is she doing here?" Stoick asked in a trembling voice.

"She check on us. She is scared for us."

"She never should have kept you. You don't belong with dragons."

Hiccup's breath stopped and he turned to the big Viking.

"She is my mother, she raised me. It's all that matters."

The look the man was giving him made him understand that those questions weren't asked out of genuine curiosity. He wished to run away and it's exactly what he did, he went in the direction of the smithy, hoping to find Fishlegs or one of his other friends in there. On his way toward it, he found Astrid and seized the girl by the arm, saying he needed to speak with her.

"What is it?"

"Did you tell Stoick that...That he is my father?"

"Oh...Well, not exactly."

She explained him what happened, and realised she still didn't know how Stoick had discovered. Yet it wasn't what concerned Hiccup for now.

"You shouldnt have tell him everything..."

"Hiccup, I couldn't lie to him anymore. I know it makes you nervous, but I lied a lot recently, and hiding the truth wasn't really better. He seemed to know anyway. I don't know how, but he did."

He closed his eyes, knowing she was right, and he couldn't ask her that forever anyway. She put a hand on his shoudler, not knowing what to say. Retrieving her parents had been awkward and scary, so she couldn't imagine what it was like for him. He turned toward her:

"Would you be okay if we went to the forest?"

"You have to be careful."

"I know, I don't want to run or anything, I just want to be somewhere else. Being in there is starting to be..."

He put his hand on his throat to make her understand.

"Smothering," she finished for him. "Alright. But promise me you'll be careful."

"Promise."

Astrid called Stormfly who was nearby, and they got on her back to look out for Toothless. They weren't long to find him, he was at the border of the forest, chasing some Terrible Terrors who awoke him. They landed near him, and the black dragon immediately went to his brother. He licked and nudged his face, carefully avoiding any brutal moves. Hiccup was happy to see him, they didn't have much time together after the battle, and he wanted to fix that. He climbed on his back and the four of them went to Raven's Point. Hiccup sat in the grass, knowing he still had to be careful.

"Do you remember when we were swimming together here?"

"Yeah...I was coming in secret to see you...It was risky, but now I admit that it was also fun."

"Once I'll be better, we'll run again," he declared, "In those woods you would always beat me. But I'm not done with you!"

She smiled at this. Indeed, they raced at some occasions, not only on Berk but on other islands when they were in the wild, and though Hiccup had often won, Astrid would always beat him on Berk. She was pretty sure it was because she knew the place better than him.

"Once you'll get used to those woods a little more, too."

"I'm starting to know those. I like it here."

"I didn't visit my owl anymore," Astrid suddenly said. "I should, after all it's for him that I went in the forest, and that you approached me."

"I like owls, they are scary, but I like them."

"Scary? Why?"

"It's their eyes, and the way they fly without moving their heads."

"You can handle big dragons but not owls?"

"Well I guess that if I had been raised by owls, I wouldn't be afraid. But it would have been a little harder to fly on their backs!" He declared with an hint of sarcasm.

They both chuckled at this, and for a short moment, they didn't speak anymore. Stormfly and Toothless were chasing birds together, and Hiccup felt a little better in the forest. Maybe he just needed to get used to the human village? Or would it be always like that?

"You really don't miss the wild?" Asked he.

"I miss living in the forest at times," she admitted, "it was great to have all this place with no other humans and their rules. Yet I'm happy to be back in the village...I imagine you miss it more than you do."

"Well...I guess I could get used to it. If I often go to the forest to take some time alone, and if I can fly as I want...I think it would be easier..But it's all those rules and weird things you do...I don't know how you remember all of this. Iit's complicated. I mean, I like the weirds things you have, I like the forge a lot. I like to learn about humans but being one...It's not easy."

"I guess you have to try to know whether you can do it or not."

"Yeah...I can stay in your home?"

"I think so, my parents doesn't seem against it."

He was glad of it, it was nice to be with Astrid, and discover her home. He had shown her his world, now he would see hers. Toothless and Stormfly came to them and the teenagers played with them, Hiccup still being careful. It was quite warm outside, and Hiccup regretted not being able to swim.

"If I wasn't wounded, I would jump in the water from Toothless's back!"

Astrid rolled her eyes. He had done that too in the past, and she had been almost scared, he would dive high into lakes or into the sea.

"I'm starting to think you really like to show off when you're with me."

"I did that years before meeting you."

"You still show off."

Hiccup huffed but was still smiling. He threw a stick at Toothless, but Stormfly caught it first and the two fought to have it. He turned back to Astrid.

"Yeah, I sure trained for years to jump just to show off before you!"

Astrid raised an eyebrow, quite surprised.

"You're growing sarcastic, it seems!"

"Sarca...?"

She explained him as well as she could, after all it was a more abstract concept.

"I heard some of you talk like that from time to time. I couldn't understand really well at first, but now I did and I like it," he explained.

"Well, you can't deny then that you're starting to adapt already."

He smiled one more time, quite flattered but also happy to hear that.

"Yeah, let's hope now that I can adapt to have a human father. I don't know what he thinks of my mother."

"I don't know how I would feel," Astrid admitted. "She took you away from him, but she also raised you."

"She didn't want to hurt him."

"I know, and you know it, but it's probably hard for Stoick. I guess he just needs time."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Thank you, for being there," he murmured.

"I can thank you too."

They looked at each other in silence. In a split of a second, something strange but not unfamiliar passed between them. They looked longingly at each other and they drew closer without thinking about it. They were alone with their dragon, they went through a lot together, they shared a strong bond...Yet she felt it wasn't the right moment. Hiccup was confused, and to tell the truth, she was still reajusting to returning to the village. Starting anything right now would be a mistake. Hiccup recoiled slightly.

"I don't really know how humans show...Well, maybe I need time to learn that."

"When things will get sorted, we'll have time for that. I must admit I'm not the best at expressing my feelings either," she admitted.

"Well, I guess we both have our own work to do," he declared.

She chuckled and he did the same soon. Toothless and Stormfly went at their side, not wanting to be forgotten. Then, they heard other shrieks from dragons and voices:

"Here they are!"

"Hey guys!"

The twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs landed on the ground near them. They all went to see Hiccup.

"They told us you went to fly away, you shoud have brought us along! Especially since I gave one of my shirts for you!" Tuffnutt pointed out.

"I knew that was your smell!"

"You can recognize my smell?"

"Yeah, I know a lot of people's smells."

"What were you doing here?" Asked Snotlout.

"Maybe they wanted to be alone to..." Ruffnutt trailed her sentence

Astrid rolled her eyes yet a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. Her friend laughed at this and Astrid shot her a look which promised revenge. Thankfully, Hiccup took their minds elsewhere:

"Well...Stoick knows and we meet this morning."

He explained what happened and realised he didn't tell Astrid that his mother threatened hers. It surprised her, but she didn't seem really angry at this.

"I'm sorry for that, she doesn't know your mom, and she thought she was going to hurt me."

"Just promise me she won't do that again."

He nodded and went on with the rest of the story. Once he was done, the teenagers looked almost surprised.

"It could have been worse," Fishlegs stated, "knowing Stoick."

"Yeah, I thought he was going to massacre us when he asked about you," Ruff admitted. "It's strange he didn't try to tell you anything else."

"It would have been funny to see him massacre you," Tuff told his sister.

"He would have done the same to you afterwards!"

"Yeah, but I would have seen you suffer first!"

Hiccup couldn't help but burst out laughing at those two and he was soon joined by the rest of the group. Ruffnutt smacked her brother on the head, he pushed her in the water and it ended with the teenagers and dragons splashing one another in the pond, making one hell of a ruckus in the forest. Hiccup was the first to retreat, feeling his wounds getting sore. He lifted his shirt and checked it, looking and sniffing at it. It was okay, it wasn't bleeding. Toothless went at his side then, and Hiccup rested his head and upper body against him while the rest of him laid in the grass. He carefully avoided pressing himself over the dragon's wounds. His brother breathed a warm air over him.

" _Thank you._ "

" _I was worried for you. Mom said she would stay as long as we aren't completely healed,_ " the dragon told him.

" _Your wounds seems better_ ," Hiccup said.

" _They weren't as bad as yours. The humans took care of me well, I must admit it._ "

" _They are nice. The man who I bit fed me, he wasn't even angry at me._ "

" _Mom thinks it's time for you to go back to humans._ "

" _I'll speak with her about it. I have to ask her some things anyway, like how she knew Starlight was coming and why."_

" _Yeah, I'm wondering too."_

The teens and their dragons eventually came to rest as well. When they returned to the village, Hiccup went directly to the Hofferson house, and he was instructed to stay in bed.

"Seriously boy, I hardly saw someone being so unwilling to recover properly," Astrid's father said.

Hiccup blushed at Egil's comment as he laid down; he fell asleep quite quickly. Egil also checked on his daughter's wounds.

"You do better than your friend."

"I told you I would be fine," she murmured.

"Astrid, some people told me he could be Stoick's son."

She was quite surprised that her father already knew about it, but at least it would spare her and her friends awkward revelations.

"Yes, he is."

"Odin, that was definitely unexpected! A meeting will be held in the Great Hall this evening, I guess Stoick will talk about it. Do you wanna come?"

"Yes, of course."

"If you're tired, you tell us. Remember you also have to be careful even if your wounds are healing well. Even the best warriors need to recover properly."

"Don't worry."

"I'll always worry about you," he said softly.

It touched her, more than she expected, and she was unable to answer anything. When the evening came, she told Hiccup she would go to the Great Hall with her parents, he promised not to do anything dangerous while they were gone. A short time after their departure, he heard two shrieks calling him outside. He promised not to do anything dangerous, but not to stay coped in the house.

Hiccup stepped out and saw his mother on the roof along with Toothless. The two dragons went down at him and the boy hugged his mother gently.

" _Are you suffering?_ " asked she.

" _No, I'm fine._ "

" _I'm sorry for this morning. Those humans are accepting you it seems._ "

" _Yes...I met my father...My human father._ "

" _I know, Toothless told me. What did he tell you?_ "

" _Nothing, I ran away._ "

" _You shouldn't have. It's time for you to return to humans, I always told you it would happen one day. It's a great luck that one of your parent is there. And...Your human mother?_ "

He sensed a hinge of fear and jealousy in her, even though she tried not to show it. He rubbed his cheek against her.

" _She is dead. Even if she had been alive, you would have been my mother._ "

She lowered her eyes and licked his face gently. He smiled at her and he sat at their side, he meant what he said, even if he wished he had known his human mom as well. Toothless then asked what they had both asked themselves:

" _Why was Starlight here?_ "

" _That evening you brought humans to the nest, and she was there with her family to feed the Red Death. I was here too. She was furious to see humans here, so she followed you once you left. I tried to stop her but I couldn't convince her to leave you alone. So I followed them to help you._ "

" _I'm sorry, I know she was your friend,_ " Hiccup softly breathed.

" _She stopped being my friend the day she told you I should dispose of you."_

He knew she meant it, yet he could feel something hidden too this time: sadness. If he had to fight against one of his friends like this one day, if one of them threatened his children...That would be horrible, he knew it. He snuggled against his mother, and so did Toothless.

" _We must end this anyway,"_ Calla declared softly but firmly _. "Your sister will have eggs soon, she told me she could feel those growing in her already._ "

Both brothers were happy to hear that, and Hiccup promised himself he would meet his sister's cubs. The three of them enjoyed the peace of the night together, happy to share such a moment and only wishing that Thinpaws was here.

Such a peace wasn't to be found in the Great Hall. The rumour that Hiccup was in reality Stoick's son had reached pretty much everyone, and people were either baffled, either happy for Stoick, or horrified to know that the wild boy could be the next Heir. Gobber and Gothi both started to spread the news, explaining people about the birthmark, and the shaman told them that the spirits confirmed what they believed. The birthmark was enough of a proof for people of Berk anyway, and some of them were already saying that the gods wanted things to happen that way. Some people however weren't thrilled. Accepting the savage was one thing, having him as the son of the chief was another. Different voices could be heard in the hall:

"Stoick, does this mean that boy will be chief?"

"If he is able to handle it, yes," he replied.

"We can't have that savage as the chief!"

"That savage is strong and he has chief's blood in his veins," someone shouted.

"Stoick, you named my son your Heir, are you really gonna rob your nephew of his title?"

Spitelout's word got people's attention, he was obviously worried. Stoick didn't like that, he didn't want to hurt his brother. Yet, there was no other way.

"If Hiccup is able to be chief, he will be..."

"You can't do this! My Snolout was supposed to be chief, he has every quality for a heir."

"No one is denying that..."

"You're denying him his title!"

"Dad, please, listen to me..."

Stoick raised his hand to make Spitelout stop and instead looked at Snotlout who just advanced to speak. Every eyes were on him and the boy felt incredibly nervous, but he went on, trying to look at Stoick only:

"I'm not stealing someone's place. I was named Heir only as a replacement, but now that Hiccup is here, he has to take his rightful place. It's okay to be a replacement, but I'm not a thief."

Pretty much everybody was baffled by this, except for Astrid. She smiled softly at him, though he didn't look at her. The other people of the village weren't expecting the young boy to react in such a way however, they expected him to try to defend his title. Stoick was nicely surprised, but it wasn't Spitelout's case.

"Snotlout, have you lost your mind? You're really gonna let a savage steal your place?!"

"It's my cousin, dad! I can't start a feud with him, especially for something that is his in the first place."

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Our son is behaving as honor command," Maka declared loudly while walking to Snotlout, "You should be proud of him."

"Proud?"

"Spitelout, if your teenage son is being wiser than you, then you should not speak further," Gobber spat.

"Indeed, that boy is my son, Spitelout, and your nephew. If he proves himself unworthy of the title, then it will be different."

Spitelout didn't say more, but his eyes were tale-telling. Stoick smiled at his nephew, Snotlout never seemed like a reasonable boy to him, and though he appreciated some of his qualities, he had never been sure that the boy could be leader material. Maka led her son outside gently, glaring one more time at her husband. Spitelout left the council angrily, furious at what he just heard and not wanting to look at his brother anymore. He had been there when Stoick had lost his son, he had supported his brother often, he had always did his best for his tribe, and now, because of a little runt raised by dragons, his son had his title stolen! He had defended that boy, he had protested when others wanted to kill him, now he wondered if he should have demanded his death.

A part of him was horrified at such a thought, he was still aware somewhere in him that this boy was his nephew, but he was so deceived that he couldn't help it. And Snotlout...How could his son bend so easily?! He had raised him to be strong, to be a leader, and now he was telling him he didn't want of his title anymore?! Maybe the boy thought it was honorable, and yes, he knew deep down that it was indeed the most honorable thing to do, but still! Snotlout should have defended his title. He didn't want to go home, didn't want to see his wife or son. Instead he went to the cliff, outside of the village, and his conscience battled against dark thoughts which started to grew.

Spitelout wasn't the only one being tormented by what just happened. Denying his title to his nephew and hurting his brother like that had been hard for Stoick, but it had to be done. At least, Snotlout had shown himself sensible, maybe his affection for his cousin had grown strong enough. Now that he thought about it, he remembered how Snotlout had yelled for someone to help Hiccup after the battle against the Night Furies. The boy probably knew already who Hiccup was, yet he had been genuinely trying to save him. It seemed like Snotlout wouldn't be a problem, Spitelout however...

He thought about going home, but he found himself going toward the Hofferson's house. Once he was close to it, his eyes searched even though a part of him was telling him it was too soon yet. He soon sighted the lanky and small form of his son, sitting before the house with two dragons. The smaller one had his head on the boy's lap and was getting petted, grunting softly. The other was at their side, and Stoick felt his guts tighten: it was the one he called his mother. Stoick didn't know what to do, should he approach, should he say something? But what? And what sould he do with this 'mother' of his? He walked toward them slowly and the dragons noticed him first, then the boy. Hiccup tensed as soon as he saw him but he didn't try to run. Instead, he just turned his head away, not willing to look at Stoick.

"Hum...Are you feeling better?"

"...Yes."

"Maybe you should go back inside."

"I can't sleep...I don't sleep good in human homes, lack of habit, I guess."

He guessed that was normal, after a life in the wild. The imposing man just sat at his son's side, staying as far as he could from Calla, trying to ignore her and focusing on Hiccup instead. Making the people of Berk accept who his son was wouldn't be easy, but it would be even more difficult with the boy himself. Calla nudged Toothless to back away a little, in order to give them some space, and her son obeyed. Hiccup looked at them with desperate eyes, he was lost, though a part of him wanted to know his father, the awkwardness, the fear and his doubts were certainly not making it easy.

"So you know," the boy stated.

"Yes. I couldn't believe it at first."

"How did you understand?"

"Your birthmark, the one on your shoulder."

The young boy gave him a confused look, and Stoick explained him before showing him his shoulder, lifting his cape a little. Hiccup was amazed at this. He had wondered at times what this weird mark was, and now he knew where it came from. Another unexpected revelation, that felt strange...He truly had no word, what were you supposed to say to the man you fought and then discovered to be your father? At his relief, Stoick spoke first:

"I guess Astrid told you I grieved for you a long time."

Hiccup just nodded.

"All those times I would think of you, I imagined you getting devoured by the dragon who took you." He marked a pause and looked at Calla who was unmoving at her son's side. Then he stared back at Hiccup. "If I had known you were alive, I would have searched for you everywhere, but...I thought I could only avenge you...I hated myself so much for not being able to protect you...In the end I did the contrary..."

His cheeks reddened with shame.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. Now I know you might not ever want me as your father, but just give it a chance, please. I'll accept your choice whatever it is, as long as you're alive, it's the most important."

Hiccup didn't know what to say at first, even if he had been human, it would have been difficult. Finally, he spelled out the words:

"It's not you. It's not that I don't want you to be my father...It's me, I don't know if I can be human. I like this village, I like my friends and I want to try to live here, but...You could be my father, but I don't know if I can be your son."

"I understand."

Stoick couldn't help but glare at Calla, thinking that it was because of her that he didn't see his son grow up.

"Don't hate her," Hiccup said, "she took care of me. She wanted to save me."

"I wanted to save you too. I would have if she didn't take you."

"What happened?"

"The house was on fire and I ran to save you. But she took you first. I'm sure I could have saved you by myself."

"Maybe I would have died. Now I'm here."

Stoick would not push it, he just succeeded to have a contact with his son, insulting the one he considered as his mother would not do. Plus, he had to admit that an animal like a dragon probably reacted instinctively, no more. Yet he was still bitter.

"Indeed, nothing can change it," the chief said. "At least you're back."

He wished to hug him while he said those words, to take him in arms and make sure he wouldn't be taken away from him anymore. Too soon, it was too soon. He stood up as he heard people coming back home.

"Come on, you should go back inside."

The boy nodded, the dragons flew away as he went back in the house. Stoick smiled, sadness and joy melting together.

 **Here, Stoick and Hiccup finally had their first talk! And if Snotlout wasn't plotting against Hiccup, who knows what Spitelout will do?**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Hi! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, as usual it's nice to read your comments. I will update The Shieldmaiden and the Fury soon for those who reads it. Enjoy!**

Destiny was something Vikings believed in, and the idea that the gods had designed the extraodinary situation they were in implanted itself in the minds of Hooligans. It couldn't be just a hazard that the chief's son, the Heir of the tribe, was taken at a young age by one of the deadliest dragon and survived among them all those years. It couldn't be a hazard that the Night Fury took him to a human who taught him how to talk, it was designed so he could be an interpret between dragons and men. It couldn't be a hazard that he and one of the prettiest and toughest Hooligan girls of his age took a liking on him and eventually brought him back to his tribe. No, that had been done in order to let men know about the Red Death, about her tyranny and dragons' real reason to attack them. Hiccup, the Dragons' Prince, Stoick's son, was the one who had to put an end to this.

The most daring Vikings had let the young riders lead them to the Dragons' nest and they had seen it. They had seen the Red Death and understood the real problem. They also had seen other incredible things thanks to the dragons living now in their village. They had seen a Gronkle asking for cuddles, a Nadder fetching a rod to play like a dog, or a Monstruous Nightmare giving some fishes to his human. One night, something even more incredible happened.

Dragons attacked one night for another raid, and instead of taking their sides, the tamed dragons and Toothless protected their riders and fought with the Vikings to protect the happened every other nights when dragons attacked, and Berk had way less raids thanks to that. At this, the dragon-child just said:

"This is their territory now. They protect it."

Hiccup was getting better, some days of rest without going out too much had been benefic although it had been quite a torture for the wild boy. Thanfully his friends visited him and of course Astrid was often with him. She and Fishlegs even started to teach him to read, Hiccup had never seen books before, and he was very curious once they explained him what it was. Things in which you could put words and stories and knowledge...That was quite incredible! He was still asking Astrid to tell him some myths about the gods, but the girl was starting to run out of stories, and he wished to discover more.

Stoick also visited him, and though it felt awkward the boy was touched by it. Thunder hadn't been really caring, so it felt good to have a dad who was. He was starting to like him, even though sometimes he remembered it was the same man who scared him so much back in the cell. He wouldn't speak of that, he knew that his dad felt guilty about it, and he didn't came in this village for some kind of revenge, quite the contrary. His dad had told him the history of their village, who their family was, he told him some old stories of battles, and Hiccup had liked those. Stoick would avoid speaking much about battles against dragons, though his son told him he had no grudge against humans for defending themselves.

One thing however almost made Hiccup panic one day, it was when Stoick had to explain him how succession worked. With dragons, the one who challenged the chief and won would be the next chief in a group, there was no matter of ancestors and succession. That's why Hiccup had been surprised to hear that all elders of each generation had been chief, and that no other family ever had.

"And no one ever beat them to be chief?"

"No, no one conquered the island ever since we got here," Stoick replied.

"No I mean in the tribe, they all became chiefs but they were probably defied by others."

"Hum...Sure, but they were the offspring of the precedent chiefs, so they would be named heir anyway."

"...It matters?"

"Yes of course. The elder of the chief's family is the Heir, whether it's a boy or a girl. For example my father was chief, but my grandfather wasn't, it was my grandmother who had the throne."

"And they get the title no matter what?"

"No, if they are really unable to do it, or if they did something really wrong, the title can go to another."

"...I have no sisters or brothers, don't I?"

"No. I didn't have any child after you. Now that's your back, you're the first in line for the title."

Though Stoick wasn't always the best to understand people, and though he didn't know his son much for now, he suspected that this would alarm him. He was right, he saw Hiccup becoming pale and mute, he didn't like to do this, but Hiccup had to know eventually.

"Listen, this will be only if you're able to do it."

"I don't even know...I'm not..."

Stoick put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"It's alright. You're not in age anyway, I still have years of ruling before me. When it will be the time, you'll know whether you're able to do it or not."

This calmed Hiccup, though he had been upset by this new. He still had to learn how the village worked, he had a hard time understanding that thing humans called gold, and he was still making mistakes when he would talk! But then, Stoick said that he had some years before him...He decided that he would talk about it to Astrid and Toothless later. He thought of telling his mom, but he was sure she would push him into that direction, and he didn't want that yet. A question then came in his mind:

"Before I came back, who was the one?"

Stoick explained him that his cousin Snotlout was the one, but he was apparently accepting the situation. He told him that his uncle wasn't happy about it however and Hiccup felt a little scared.

The day after this conversation, Gothi allowed him to go out. He still had to be careful, but his wounds were mostly healed. Once he could go out, Fishlegs started to teach him about the forge while Astrid would show him and Toothless how the village and how their daily lives worked. He didn't tell them about the chief title, for now he just wanted to enjoy some times with them. The twins and Snotlout showed Hiccup how to play some tricks, especially to Mildew and he had to admit it was funnier than tricking the boars. Yet he would also often stop the twins from doing dangerous things.

Everyone in the village was a little curious about Hiccup, the children more than anyone else. They would often try to ask Hiccup questions or have him play with them. They were infinitely curious about him, even quite fascinated. In the village, some could be seen playing the dragon-children. Most of them were nice and when one of them would start to be too insolent or mean, they would either get a snarky reply, or Hiccup would hiss and charge at them to scare them. He would laugh each time he would see them run away. Little Gustav was probably the one who was the msot trying to engage with Hiccup, and though he could be annoying, the dragon-boy liked him.

Because of this curiosity children had, Hiccup soon started to teach them about dragons and even introduced tem to Toothless. Though his brother would act annoyed but patient, Hiccup could perfectly see that in reality his ego was really stroked by the sheer admiration and attention from the children. He could see the parents had been scared, some even forbad their kids to approach the dragon (those orders were of course ignored as soon as said parents weren't watching anymore). In spite of the fascination he had over children, Toothless's popularity wasn't as big as Meatlug's one. The other dragons were introduced to the children after, and Meatlug's motherly and cuddly personality won them over.

One morning, while Fishlegs and Hiccup were in the forge and Fishlegs was showing Hiccup how to fix an axe, shrieks interrupted them and Gobber muttered:

"Hum...I think there is a little problem with the dragons..."

Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug were having a confrontation, and Hiccup went out immediately, followed by the two others. He soon understood that a big piece of meat was the subject of the fight. Since they were living together, Toothless had imposed his authority on the other dragons, yet today Hookfang was challenging it, while Meatlug was only trying to grab her share.

" _Will you stop that?!_ " Hiccup exclaimed

" _He won't give the meat!_ " Toothless hissed

" _It's mine as much as yours! We got that yack together_ ," Hookfang growled.

" _Just share, Meatlug is waiting!_ "

Toothless hit him on the head swiftly and Hookfang's hold on the meat lessened. The Night Fury took the meat for himself and only shared once he got the bit he wanted. Gobber went at his side:

"I don't know how you managed to do that all your life, kid! I know more than one ruthless warrior who wouldn't dare to get in the middle on a Monstruous Nightmare and a Night Fury fighting!"

"They are not bad, they won't hurt me. You still haven't touched a dragon," Hiccup pointed out.

"Ah yeah...I don't know if that would be a good idea, I need my undies to stay clean for the rest of the day."

"Oh come on," Hiccup said while laughing, "you can fight dragons but you're too scared to touch a friendly one?"

He called Meatlug, who was probably the one in the best mood. The female Gronkle came and Hiccup asked her to be nice with Gobber. Fishlegs just had the time to start telling Gobber what to do when the dragon tackled him to the ground, licked his face and demanded cuddles for the smithy. Although Gobber was startled and baffled at first, he soon melted and befriended Meatlug quickly, laughing all the while. Not wanting to be left behind, Toothless also went to the smithy, although he didn't jump on him like Meatlug, but allowed the man to pet him. Once he was standing again, the man declared simply:

"Alright, that was worth the risk!"

Not everyone was that positive about his presence in the village. Though most of people accepted him, others still considered him as a danger, Mildew was a good example of it and he wasn't the only one. Some people would tell him not to approach their house, or to back away from them, Hiccup would generally hiss at them threateningly, when Toothless wasn't roaring at them. Also, there was Spitelout, who wouldn't reject him for being the dragon-child, but because he was Stoick's heir. He had tried to go to him, but his uncle just glared at him and left angrily. Although Hiccup was saddened by the rejection of his uncle, no one suffered as much as Snotlout because of it. His father was still so angry, not only at Stoick, but also at him. While Fishlegs and Hiccup were introducing dragons to Gobber, he was home, his father was ranting about the situation.

"I just don't get how you can accept this! Do you realize what you're loosing?"

Snotlout bit his lips, he didn't know what to say, he wanted to tell his dad that he didn't want this, that he felt like a heavy weight had been taken off of his shoulders since Hiccup had been acknowledged as Stoick's son, but he couldn't. His father would give him this look of disapprobation, of disappointement, this look which made him feel unworthy and unloved...

"I know it sucks, but it's like that. I'll loose my cousin if..."

"For Thor's sake, you didn't know him before! He bit your face!"

"And you said yourself that you wouldn't hold a grudge on him for that because kids would always fight," Maka reminded him.

"It wasn't the same! I didn't want to see that savage being executed, but it doesn't mean I want him as a chief, especially when that title should have been given to my son!"

"But it's his title," Snotlout uttered.

"Yeah, that's men and gods' laws," his mother added.

"Men and gods also accept when people conquer thrones which aren't their."

"But they don't admit treason among a family. Conquering another chiefs's place is one thing, but doing that to someone of your blood is vile," Maka declared. "As long as our son honour our family, as long as he becomes a great warrior, it will be good."

His father shook his head and looked at Snotlout with the glare he feared. The boy just couldn't find the strenght to speak and left the house, ignoring his father's call which demanded him to come back. He ran away, found Hoofkfang, and the two flew away. Then, in the sky, his tears started to fall already, and he decided to find somewhere else to stay. When they got on the ground, Hookfang rubbed his head against his, then nudged him, as if he wanted to show him he had to keep strong.

They remained alone for a moment, Snotlout throwing stones in the water, when they heard flaps of wings and saw Hiccup and Toothless landing for them. His cousin went to him, smiling, though that smile disappeared when he saw Snotlout's reddened eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Hum, nothing, my eyes hurts, that's all."

"I was looking for you, Fishlegs proposed to fly in the islands nearby with everyone else."

"I don't know if I will come, go without me."

Hiccup sat at his side, and asked bluntly:

"It's your father?"

Snotlout blushed, why couldn't that kid have the sense to leave people alone when they wanted to be? Sometimes being a child raised by dragons really had disadvantages!

"I'm fine! There is nothing wrong with my dad and me! It's...Alright."

Hiccup raised his eyebrows in disbelief, and Snotlout perfectly that his stubborn cousin wouldn't leave him alone.

"Your dad don't like me because I have to be chief," Hiccup said. "You never hated me for that."

"No,you...You're annoying at times, really, but...We're still the same family. And you gave me Hookfang."

"But you want to be chief or not?"

Snotlout didn't say anything for a short moment, and just shook his head. Confessing Astrid without being mocked had done him a lot of good, and he trusted Hiccup not to mock him either.

"I don't want to be chief...I don't think I can be chief anyway, not I would be unable to do it, but you know when a man lacks passion for something, he shouldn't do it, and it's just as if he couldn't," Snotlout hurriedly. "Yet my dad wants me to be. At least you have a good excuse not to become chief if you don't want that."

"Why you don't want?"

Snotlout was surprised at the question, maybe because it was asked out of genuine curiosity.

"I just don't, I know it's not made for me. They explained me a lot of things and I'm not sure I can do it. It's funny to order peoplearound, sure, but...the rest isn't for me. Maybe you would be better at that. Doesn't, you're better than me, but..."

"It's not your thing."

Snotlout just nodded and sighed, then Hiccup asked another question:

"Why you don't tell your father?"

"Because he wants me to be the best, and for that I have to be chief according to him. If I do otherwise, I'll be a deception."

"Why? You survive, it's good enough, it's the more important."

"Survive? Is that all dragons care about?"

"And feed the Red Death. Mother told me I had to be strong to survive since I was a human with dragons. As long as you can fight and survive, it's good."

"Well, you're definitely..."

He paused for a short moment, as if he had difficulty to find his words. Hiccup had forgotten Fishlegs and their plans, he was curious to know.

"My family...they always say I have to do better, and even when I do my best, they say it's the least I can do! Even my mom who says that I don't have to be chief, she still think I have to accomplish exploits to be good! Your father isn't so much like this, but he also expected a lot of me when I was still Heir. It's as if whatever I do, it's never really good, it's never enough!"

He stopped there and Hiccup didn't know what he should say, he felt sad for his cousin. Dragons could be tough too, but mainly when it came to survival. Snotlout went on:

"I...I know that we only meet recently, but you're the only family member who doesn't tell me I'm not doing enough."

He wasn't looking at Hiccup while saying that, maybe he was trying to explain that to himself as well. Hiccup rubbed his head against his shoulder briefly, surprising Snotlout.

"Do as you wish. It doesn't matter what your father say, you'll leave him one day, isn't it?"

"Yeah...Yeah, I'll live on my own, but they'll still be my family."

"I get that it matters a lot to humans. It matters with dragons too. But you can't live all you life just for your family."

Those words were told simply, as if it was obvious, yet it made Snotlout think a lot, even though he wasn't the smartest, there were some things he could be aware of. Right now, he became aware that his cousin was somehow right. Yes, he wanted to make his father proud, but he couldn't betray his cousin for that, the one who made him feel worth it, who gave him Hookfang and saved Astrid.

"But if I can't be chief?" Asked Hiccup

"...I don't know, but why not?"

Hiccup nodded, he didn't want to tell his cousin that he was as scared as him about it. Their conversation ended here as the other teens found them. Fishlegs had found Astrid and the twins and told them about going to the islands nearby and they had been enthusiastic. Hiccup and Snotlout joined them, Snotlout forgetting about his first wish to stay alone. While they were in the air, Hiccup spoke with Toothless about what is cousin told him.

" _If you were chief, you could help more than ever. You can do it, you always had a strong spirit._ "

" _You think so?_ "

" _Yeah. I'm fine in that village, this place is as fine as any other and I'm starting to really like the other dragons and the humans. The Zippelbacks are a little stupid, just like their riders, but they are funny!_ "

Hiccup agreed with that, he liked them all too. He had seen that his brother was dapting well, maybe better than him. Toothless was often curious and he liked to have fun, and the village had its lot of fun and curiosity.

" _You should speak to your father,_ " Toothless said, " _he is the one who knows the most about it._ "

That was true, he knew it, but he feared such a conversation. Asking Astrid first would feel less awkward. He soon forgot those problems when they reached one of the island nearby. They spent times together exploring, swimming in the sea, and went back home with no dragons' attack during the night. However if the night was peaceful, it wasn't meant to last.

That night, dragons surely did leave Berk alone, but the island was forgotten. In the Red Death's lair, one was speaking with hatred and venom about the dragon-boy, his friends and his family. Starlight was one of the few dragons who ever dared to speak with the Red Death, maybe because she was fast enough to avoid her jaw, or maybe because she was reckless. Usually, the Red Death wouldn't listen that much to her, but tonight was different, she had noticed humans coming in her lair with dragons, and she was curious about this. Starlight had told her the entire story, and she was also telling her how the kids were riding dragons and how those tamed dragons defended the village against an attack. She hadn't been there, but she got wind of it.

"If they continue to do so, your rule will truly be endangered! They are encouraging dragons to rebel against you!"

Starlight truly believed it, and she wanted to take advantage of it. With her sons dead and Thunder ferociously protecting the island of Night Furies, she and Summer were alone to fight. It would be too dangerous. But when the dragons helped humans, she saw the opportunity to act, to make the Red death furious. So she complained about her sons, and told her about the threat.

The Red Death was listening with attention. No dragons could know what her reaction would be. Once Starlight was done, the gigantic dragon thought, she thought about something she rarely thought about: her possible _death_.

She was alive since very long, very, _very long_. There weren't men on the islands around when she was born. She didn't even know what men were back then, maybe they didn't even exist at all yet. She remembered this time as a dark one. She used to be small, she was the size of an average Gronkle back then, and she had known fear and hunger during that time. But she had discovered something; the more she would eat, the bigger she would grow. So the Red Death had eat, and became more ferocious. She had this particularity of growing bigger than others the more she would eat. She wasn't the only one, it would happen to a few dragons who were destined to be one thing: Alphas. Yet there was a price: the more she would eat, the more she would starve.

Food wasn't that easy to find, that was her biggest concern. At least it was the case until humans came...Humans...They were surely the best at gathering and producing food. And she understood there was an opportunity. She allowed humans to live, she wouldn't kill them, they were precious cattles, her cattles. She grew bigger and bigger thanks to the food humans gathered. She gained control over dragons and she enjoyed it; she ordered them to steal food from humans, but to kill them only if necessary. Precious cattle wasn't to be wasted.

She thought then that she would stop to grow, she was big enough. Yet it didn't stop, the hunger was still so vivid. She couldn't understand why, other Alphas would eventually stop to grow, they would feel reasonable hunger, they would leave peacefully in their domain. But not her. Hunger tortured her, she didn't know why. Then, she contemplated one thing: the possibility that she wasn't just a normal Alpha, that she would grow to no end, eat everything around, destroy everything around her until...And then she would imagine a big black void, with nothing around, _with nothing to eat_. So she went in the mountain and stayed there, and the walls of the moutain around her contained her growth. She was safe and warm here. Lava was keeping her comfortable. She would wait for her servants to bring her food, and she would just think, sleep and eat.

Years ago, that dragon-child arrived. She had wanted to eat him, because if he wouldn't produce food with other humans, he was useless. Also, she had rarely tasted humans, and she wished to remember what their flesh was like. But the child would always escape her. She always considered him like an odd little thing, and was sometimes entertaining herself by wondering for how long he would survive. He was an insignificant, scrawny thing, she didn't really cared about catching him somehow, he was only a mere entertainment, and she never cared to know whether he lived or died.

Yet Starlight was now bringing an idea absolutely incredible, and yet she couldn't push it away: that this boy, so small and so insignificant, might be the cause of her _death_.

At this moment, she reminded herself of some things: she needed the dragons to do as she wanted, but those dragons probably wanted to get free from her. Instead of the loyalty other Alphas would obtain from their servants, she had put fear in their minds, fear in order to keep them in control. For the very first time, she considered that this fear might play _against_ her.

Fear was something she hadn't felt in a while, today it was happening again, and it was unbearable, she felt like the young and small thing she was a long time ago. No, that wouldn't happen! She found it very reassuring to suppose that Starlight was lying. She knew some of the things that was happening among her servants, and she knew Starlight hated the dragon-child and all humans in general. She had always forbad Starlight to destroy villages of humans, yet she suspected the Night Fury to be murdering them still. Now Starlight said that her sons had been killed. Good, the Red Death always thought they were annoying.

"I know you hate that child, Starlight, are you trying to use me?"

"No, I'm telling the truth! Other dragons saw that!"

No dragons dared to speak, they all backed away, staying only close enough to hear what was said. At this moment, another one just arrived while they were all hiding, a Night Fury, but the Red Death wouldn't pay attention to him.

"If that child attacks, I'll know how to fight him. For now, just do your task."

"Please, humans are a plague! They killed almost all my family, and they will continue to hurt your people if you don't act!"

The Red Death emitted a sinister growl which was the only laugh she possessed.

"You think I care about your insignificant family? You're only a servant, remember that. You're not my people, you should know that by now. You might be powerful, Starlight, but you're stupid."

Starlight looked offended and the Red Death laughed once more. She meant it: Starlight was old, she was powerful, but stupid still. She chased her away and continued to think, alone. It was unnerving, but she thought once more about the boy, she had indeed seen him with other humans. Starlight had spoke of one in particular, a girl who didn't just rode dragons, but who turned into a creature in between like him, because the boy had taken her into the wild with him and she changed so much that even her smell wasn't really human anymore. Was it possible? The boy had been taken very young to be raised among dragons, it explained his existence, but that girl decided to go among them by her own. It was all very new to her, that one could decide and succeed to overpass the limits of their specie like that.

There was something she knew since all that time: even the most powerful dragon needed others. No dragon could really survive alone, or accomplish much alone. That's why she had servants. Until now, even though he had a family to protect him, the boy used to be alone, because there was no other creatures in between. Too human to be a dragon, too dragon to be a human. All that time, the boy had managed to survive for long among the most dangerous dragons, he even managed to survive her. She considered for the first time that the boy might be stronger than what she thought. Yet he had been alone. But now, it changed, the boy wasn't alone anymore: there was _another_.

She remained in there, considering the possibility of that other and of what she and the boy could do. Meanwhile, another dragon was looking down, another Night Fury: Thunder. He asked other dragons to explain him what happened before he came, and they told him how Starlight demanded Hiccup's death, as well as everyone helping him. This filled him with rage, his first move was to find Starlight and try to kill her, but he stopped himself; he had more important to do, he had to warn his family while there was still time.

He knew that the Red Death was right: in spite of all her slyness and practical intelligence, Starlight was stupid. She was stupid because she would let emotions and pride lead her, and she failed to see that every single life had to end, and that humans killing her family was nothing more than consequences of the way the world worked around them. And because of this stupidity, she had done something rash and irrational. It was all dragons' fear that the Red Death could come out of her lair and kill everything, even he dreaded that, and she had started something that might make it come true. But there was another thing that was indeed true: his children would maybe be able to change things.

So he flew away, while the Red Death was deeply plunged in her thoughts, he flew toward Berk. Calla had been right, he understood that now, he couldn't let everyone be killed and do nothing. Starlight and her remaining daughter were strong, but now his family was bigger and they would fight.

 **I just loved writing the Red Death's point of view! There will be more of that later. Not many interactions between Astrid and Hiccup, but that will happen again. About Stoick's grandmother being chief, I don't think it was the case in the animated serie, but I like it that way, rather than have only men. Don't hesitate to review, especially constructive criticism, those are the most helpful!**

 **Review, please!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **To Guest's review concerning Astrid and Hiccup : yeah indeed in normal situations those two would have done more, I agree. In Race to the Edge, I'm pretty sure that they actually did much more than kiss. But here they are thirteen, and considering that Astrid almost got raped and isn't so much one to jump on boys basically, I didn't really picture them doing much. She could have kissed him because she needed affection in a difficult situation, but I don't really imagine her doing that. But now that's just my point of view. I didn't see the Blue Lagoon, maybe I will. Thank you for your review anyway, I'm glad when people tell me what they think.**

Plunging from the sky, Hiccup allowed himself to fall in the sea and twisted his body to plunge properly. He enjoying the myriads of sensation he felt while falling. He found himself engulfed in the salty water and felt vivified by the fresh water. It was cold, but it felt good somehow. He swam to the surface and breathed in before extending his arm out. Toothless's paw gripped him and got him out of the water before throwing him in again. He swirled in the water before getting his head at the surface. He laughed joyfully and looked up to see another one plunging.

Astrid came with him that morning, and though she was reluctant at first, she finally joined Hiccup by diving from Stormfly's back. She jumped more out of pride, because she didn't want anyone to say she had been scared, if Ruff ever learned that she didn't dare to do it...Pride did overcame fear until she was in the air, alone. She held back a yell of fear before being plunged in the water. She immediately went back to the surface and took a deep breath. Hiccup swam to her with a big smile.

"You're okay?"

"Of...Of course, yeah. I'm fine!"

"Okay, I'm not saying anything..."

They were both pulled out of the water by the dragons, Hiccup yelled:

"Let's do it again!"

'Boy, he is totally obnoxious! I wonder if that's good or not right now!' Astrid thought.

"Hiccup!"

Fishlegs's voice caught their attention and they turned toward him. He was flying with Meatlug, looking quite in a hurry:

"Gobber says that if you want to learn smithing, you have to come now!"

"Oh, I didn't get the time!"

Astrid didn't bother correcting him, she was relieved to be done with that ridiculous game. Flying was okay, but she wasn't ready to dive once more. There was something terryfying about it, to just let herself fall without having anything to hold on and being able to do nothing about it. Sure, she knew Stormfly was here with her, yet...She went back to the village with Hiccup and Fishlegs, the three of them landed at the forge and Stoick was talking with Gobber. When they saw both Hiccup and Astrid soaked in water, the two adults were puzzled and Stoick asked:

"What happened to you?"

"I was showing Astrid how to jump from a dragon's back."

"What?"

"We jumped above the ocean," Astrid explained hurriedly. "It was a game."

"A stupid game," Stoick declared, "don't do that anymore!"

"I always did that! And I'm with Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed

"But now you're here," Gobber said, "and it's time for work!"

Fishlegs and Hiccup did as they were told; Astrid left with Stormfly while Toothless went to Meatlug to play. Gobber gave Stoick a desapproving look, and while the two boys weren't listening, he murmured:

"If you start to try locking him up, he'll definitely run away."

"Gobber, I can't let him risk his life..."

"Stoick, don't grow overprotective, we're Vikings, we let our kids train against dragons...Or at least we used to. Your son will do crazier things, he is wild, you can't stop him."

Stoick looked at his son who was listening to Fishlegs while Gobber went to join them. Indeed, the child was wild in many ways, he had seen this already and it wouldn't be easy to tame him. He also knew it was ridiculous for a Viking to be overprotective toward their children, after all they had to be raised to be tough, and it was a good thing for a chief to have an intrepid heir. Yet...Yet his heart was screaming that it didn't matter, that he didn't want to loose his son again and that he couldn't relive the vivid pain he felt the first time. His thoughts were interrupted by some villagers call, the chief was needed.

Though Hiccup intended to stay in the forge most of the day, something else called him outside. In the afternoon, he saw some Terrible Terrors coming in the village to try to steal some food to the villager. His father of course went to chase them, and Hiccup sprinted to help. Toothless went with him, they ran around the small dragons, hissed at them, roared and warned that they had to behave. Hiccup seized one, pinned it to the ground and hissed at the small beast furiously before releasing it. The Terrible Terror whimpered and Hiccup hummed, to tell there would be no fight if they wanted to make peace. The dragon rubbed itself against the feral child, and the other soon did the same to show they wouldn't bother them anymore.

Stoick and the villagers around had watched this, baffled, Hiccup was on his four once more and he seemed to have forgotten all his humanity. The boy looked at them, grinned, took a Terrible Terror and showed it to the closest person: a young man with brown hair.

"He can be your friend."

"Hum...I don't think so..."

"I know that they are...annoyful? How do you say?"

"Annoying," Stoick corrected.

"Annoying but they are nice. They are smaller so they have to fight more to survive."

Hiccup started to explain more about those dragons and some villagers around came to listen, intrigued. Stoick watched his boy teaching the inhabitants a little more about dragons. This and the stupid game he played this morning...The boy was like Valka, he was daring...A hole appeared in his chest at this thought. He and Hiccup never spoke of her.

While telling them more about Terrible Terrors, the dragon-boy realized that he and his friends missed something. Though the Hooligans had seen dragons weren't all bad, they still ignored a lot about those. Hiccup and the other teens had shown them the Red Death, explained why dragons had to attack, they even taught the children some little things about them and proved dragons and men could live together, but it wasn't enough. The Hooligans had to really understand dragons to stop fearing them so much. Once he was over, the young man was extending his hand to the Terrible Terror who was sniffing it curiously while the other little dragons were leaving.

Hiccup stood up and jumped on Toothless's back, when Stoick's voice was heard:

"Hiccup, don't leave for long, I wish to speak to you later."

"Why not now?"

"I still have work to do. Be careful and don't come back too late, alright?"

He nodded and Toothless soared above them. He was intrigued by what his father wanted to tell him, what could it be?

" _Hiccup, where are we going_?" Asked Toothless.

" _We have to find Astrid and the others._ "

He called Fishlegs from above, and they soon found the other riders.

"Why did you want us to come?" Asked Ruff.

"Because I want us to do something. We need to teach your village about dragons."

"We already showed them the Red Death and all..." Snotlout pointed out.

"He means studying dragons in particular, I think," Fishlegs advanced.

"Yes. They know dragons aren't bad, but they know nothing about them. They need to understand them."

"That probably wouldn't be bad, we don't know that much either," Astrid admitted. "Even I who lived with you for some times. Sometimes I'm still lost."

"I know, that's why I think we should teach people."

"You want to teach them to ride as well?" Asked Fishlegs.

"Why not?"

"Yeah, if Berk had an army of dragon riders, we would have nothing to fear of...our enemies anymore," Astrid breathed.

She crossed Hiccup's eyes and they both remembered that battle against the Outcasts, when three of them had cornered her...She hadn't speak so much about it, maybe she was trying to forget.

"That would be cool," Tuff hummed, "an army of dragon riders...What chaos..."

"What mess and destruction..." Ruff continued for him.

"Yeah I wasn't really thinking of that," Hiccup reminded them.

"They still got a point," Snotlout said.

"We could use the old training arena," Fishlegs proposed. "If we stop killing dragons, it should serve for something else."

"Yeah, that's an idea," Astrid said. "But we would need Stoick to approve. He seemed quite mad at us this morning."

"I'll ask him. But are you good to teach them?"

They all agreed, even though they knew less than Hiccup, they still had more knowledge than the other villagers and the dragon-boy couldn't do that alone. Fishlegs suggested they should also create their own book of dragons, and while Astrid and Hiccup hearthily agreed to that, Snotlout and the twins were not really thilled at the idea of making a book. They discussed furthermore this idea, and eventually all went back to the village. They still had some chores and tasks to fullfill before dining in the Great Hall. On the way, Hiccup explained his idea to his brother.

" _Fine with me, as long as I don't have to give rides to any human who'll want to get on my back._ "

" _Promise."_

After dinner, Hiccup went to find his father, having already forgotten that Stoick wanted to talk to him. Toothless was outside of the Great Hall, feisting on a dead rabbit when Hiccup and his father went out. Although his human brother told him he could come in the Great Hall, Toothless wasn't feeling at ease in those kind of building yet. He preffered to eat outside beneath the stars, maybe he would eat in that place someday but not now. He swallowed what remained of his rabbit and started to follow the two while they walked away.

"It could be an idea," Stoick said after Hiccup explained him. "Maybe it would indeed ease things up."

"Thank you, I'll tell Astrid..."

He was about to run to find his friend when his father gently seized his shoulder. Hiccup looked at him questionnigly, the chief sighed and murmured:

"Come with me first, there is something we need to talk about."

Toothless and Hiccup looked at each other, the boy remembered suddenly what his father asked him earlier. They both followed Stoick while the chief was speaking:

"I know those were only Terrible Terrors you fought, but would you have done the same with a bigger and more dangerous dragon?"

"Yes. I have to."

"That's what I thought. I know you're not the kind to stay put, but I want you to understand something."

Hiccup realised he was leading him to his house and he felt his guts tighten. Until now he never went in his father's house and strangely it seemed like it was meaning a lot. Stoick opened the door and Hiccup's back hunched as if he was ready to get back on his four once more. Toothless rubbed his head against his side and cooed reassuringly. Hiccup stroked his snout gently.

"This...This was always your house?"

"Yes, always. It was here that...That this Night Fury caught you."

"Mother...She said it was on fire."

"It was rebuilt."

The two brothers entered cautiously, Hiccup had to resist the urge to crouch and walk on his four. So this was the home he should have grown up in...Strangely, it didn't feel as unwelcoming as the other human homes, but maybe he was just getting used to those. There was something however, something that made the atmosphere of this house sad, and Hiccup could feel it.

"That's where I lived with your mother...For a short period, we all lived together here...I think it was the happiest time of my life. Your real mother's name was Valka."

"I think Astrid told me...I wanted to ask you more"

Stoick walked to a chest and opened it to take out an helmet.

"Here, that belonged to her, it was her helmet. I offered it to her, she was very proud of it."

"...How is she dead? Astrid didn't told me much."

"In a battle, one of the Outcasts beat her in combat, I killed him right after. At least she went to Valhalla..."

He looked at his son who was holding the piece of metal and he felt his heart clench: he still had time with his son, he didn't see him grew up, but he could still see him become a man. Yet if something happened to him...

"She was a lot like you, it's quite incredible at times... Not only your look, but your boldness, the way you care about those you love...Even the way you smile...Your mother also thought that fighting dragons wasn't the right way."

Hiccup had a sad smile and he felt his eyes wetten at this. Feeling his emotions, Toothless cooed once more before rubbing his snout against his cheek. He then sniffed the helmet and Hiccup explained him softly that it belonged to his real mother. Although it felt weird for Toothless to hear Hiccup call someone else than Calla 'mother', he could understand. So this was it, Hiccup's origins were here...Stoick approached and for the first time, he put a hand on Toothless and stroked his head. It astonished both brothers; Stoick sighed and murmured:

"She had me swear that I would take care of you and protect you. I really failed that..."

"No, you didn't. Sometimes things just aren't right. I'm good now."

"I know but if that dragon did eat you...I know they took care of you well, I saw how that one was ready to fight for you," he declared while looking at Toothless. "Now you're here, and I know I'm lucky. They all say that the gods wanted it that way, maybe they're right. But I don't know what the gods want now, and I know I don't want to loose you like I lost her."

"You won't loose me, not easily. I confronted danger already, don't worry. I could be worried for you too."

That was true indeed. Hiccup asked him how he met his mother and Stoick explained that she wasn't from Berk originally, he met her during a quest when they were still teenagers. While he was telling him that story, a loud roar was suddenly heard through the village, making the three of them jump in surprise. Toothless and Hiccup looked at each other: they knew who was roaring like this.

"Another attack..."

"No, he is calling for us," Hiccup explained.

"Who is calling for you?"

"My father...my other father."

Stoick gaped at this and just had time to run behind his son to follow him outside and see the dragon who roared like this. At the border of the village, under the moonlight, stood the biggest Night Fury the chief ever saw, the few people around were all entranced and terrified at this sight. If such a beast attacked...Hiccup ran toward Thunder, wondering why his other father was here. Calla and Toothless were at his side already, he looked at the humans nearby threateningly, seemingly not noticing Hiccup coming and yet turned to his son as soon as the boy was at his side.

" _Father, what are doing here?_ "

" _This village is filthy, I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important,_ " Thunder growled.

" _What happened?_ "

" _The Red Death. Starlight wants her to come out, she told her you wanted to kill her._ "

The rest of the family was shocked and Calla felt boiling anger: Starlight had gone way too far!

" _We must stop her_ ," Toothless declared, " _if she comes out many will die, not only dragons!_ "

" _Wait, is the Red Death really going to do that?_ " Asked Calla

" _She didn't seem to believe Starlight. But if she eventually convince her, it will be a disaster._ "

They all felt a little reassured at this, of course the Red Death wouldn't come out just because some dragon asked.

" _She'll probably never believe I could kill her_ ," Hiccup said.

" _She think she cannot die," Toothless huffed, "but we still have to kill her, and to kill Starlight as well, we should have killed her a long time ago, you should have killed them on your island, father!_ "

Thunder roared at Toothless, his son cringed slightly and Hiccup leaned toward him.

" _This was your fight, not mine! Now she wants to make the Red Death come out it's every dragons' fight. We'll stop Starlight together, I don't want you all to die._ "

" _We need to kill the Red Death as well_ ," Toothless declared firmly.

At this, the two parents looked at them with stunned eyes: killing the Red Death? Her sons never told Calla about that, in fact, the brothers didn't even have a plan yet. Even Hiccup was stunned to hear Toothless say that. They had discussed the eventuality of killing the Red Death, but last time Toothless was as hesitant as him.

" _So you thought about it?_ "

" _Yeah. I'm thinking of Thinpaws, the cubs she'll have and even my own cubs...I don't want them to spend their life like we did. And the people here shouldn't starve because of her. I'm tired to feed that parasite who does nothing but eat everything she can._ "

" _Sons, you can't. She can't be killed,_ " Calla declared.

" _Every dragon can die,_ " Hiccup growled lowly.

Thunder roared at him even louder than earlier, and the boy leaned against his brother out of pure instinct.

"Hiccup!"

He heard Stoick soming toward them, and Thunder growled:

" _Who's that?_ "

" _My father._ "

He extended a hand to Stoick and told him he was alright. Although the chief stopped, he didn't leave either, ready to take out his axe and fight.

" _Is it that one who gave you this idea?_ " Asked Thunder furiously while looking at Stoick.

" _No. He would talk like you_ ," Toothless huffed. " _We must kill the Red Death, she is nothing good._ "

" _Humans wants to fight her too. They want to kill her as well,_ " Hiccup growled.

" _What use could they be? No wings, no fangs, no claws and no scales..._ "

" _They are strong_ ," Toothless growled. " _You told us to mind our own fights, we will father._ "

" _Indeed,_ " Hiccup said, " _we aren't asking you to come. We'll fight and we'll die if we have to."_

Calla shrieked at those words and Thunder tensed as well. Stoick was watching this, not having the slightest idea of what was happening. The other riders had come as well, though they stayed far enough from Thunder. Toothless turned his back to them.

" _Thanks for telling us father, we'll fight Starlight with you. Then, we'll fight the Red Death as well, and you'll do as you wish._ "

Leaving their parents here, they joined the humans once. Hiccup explained to Stoick and the riders what just happened.

"That's why we need to kill Starlight once and for all, and the Red Death as well," Hiccup said in conclusion.

Though the other riders knew this wouldn't be easy and dreaded such a fight, they knew Hiccup was right. That scared Stoick more than them, they could all die, not only his son but those kids as well!

"No way! I'm forbidding you to do anything as such!"

Of course the Hooligan teens didn't dare to protest, but Hiccup would hear none of it.

"I'll fight, and Toothless too."

"Hiccup, don't do that."

"I have to."

"It's the adults' fight!"

"It's mine as well! Mine and the other riders' "

"I'm your father and your chief, I tell you not to go."

Hiccup huffed in disbelief and for a moment, the human boy in him disappeared completely and only the feral dragon-child was here. Stoick saw that perfectly.

"I choose my chief, no one force me. I'll fight if I want."

The dragon-child was a runt, a fishbone, and yet he was standing up to the chief with a boldness that only a few warriors would have shown to Stoick's face. His wilding of a son wouldn't let him order him around so easily, he was just like his mother and he was also part dragon...

"I can't loose you once more," he said in a breath.

At this Hiccup's gaze softened, and a shade of the tamed boy reappeared. He approached and rubbed his head against his father's arm comfortingly, and gave him a small smile.

"I can fight."

He left without giving Stoick time to protest furthermore and his friends and brother followed. The big Viking watched him growing smaller in the distance and he got the impression once more that his son was leaving for good. Gobber was right, if he tried to hold him back, he would make him run away, but if he allowed him to fight...He went outside of the village and took a sheep with him. He went on a hill, where a small altar for the gods was standing. There was one in the village for formal sacrifices, and this one has been put here for those who wanted to be speak with the gods in peace. Stoick killed the sheep to offer it to the gods, and adressed his prayers to Odin and Thor, who were both fathers and warriors; he prayed them to help his son to overcome his enemies. He also prayed to Freya, the goddess of love could understand his torment more than any other god. He knew a sheep wasn't much of a sacrifice, but his tribe couldn't afford to offer much food, the gods knew that.

While Stoick prayed, he failed to see dragons flying away from the island.

"Stoick will be furious at us," Fishlegs whimpered.

"We have to do this, Fishlegs," Astrid explained.

"But what if..."

"We need to buy some times," Hiccup reminded him, "we have to talk to the Red Death."

"Let's hope she'll listen...She usually listen to you, right?"

Snotlout's question was heard by all riders and they all looked at Hiccup expectantly.

"...I never spoke to her before."

 **TwilightSparkle: About my other story, really, don't answer to trolls and haters, believe me it's the last thing to do. Feeding trolls isn't a good idea, even if I appreciate the support and I thank you for being concerned. I'll ignore that person, they don't deserve any answer. I'll be glad to read your reviews again, but please don't answer those people back, I don't want some battle in the comment section.**

 **Don't hesitate to review! I'll update the ShieldMaiden and the Fury very soon!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Hi everybody! Sorry I didn't update in a while, I had a lot of work recently, also my mom went to hospital for some times, but she is now fine and back home.**

 **I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and I thank everyone who left a review!**

The sun would seldom shine on Dragon Island, when clouds weren't covering the sky, heavy smoke from the volcano would. A few green spots and the colors of the dragons flying around were the only things livening this gloomy place. Toothless and Hiccup had never known how to consider that place. Many dragons would hatch their eggs here, it was familiar, it had been a nice place to rest in when they were still fighting humans. Yet they would only be safe outside, and knowing what kind of horror would hide under the rocks would always make them feel insecure. Dragons were fighting each other for food, or searching for mates, or simply resting and playing with others.

"This place could be a real home for dragons, if she wasn't here," Hiccup declared for no one in particular.

"I'm sure it will be one day," Fishlegs replied softly.

The dragon-child grinned, they passed above a couple of Rumblehorns and a few Night Furies who weren't Starlight nor Summer. The brothers hoped they would see Thinpaws but remembered that she had eggs which she had to protected or which had hatched already. She wasn't around, she was on Night Fury's island and they would be the ones to visit. Yet for now there were more important matters. Everything seemed normal, no sign of the Red Death coming out anytime soon.

When they finally landed on the island, the teens and dragons were all anxious and Hiccup seriously reconsidered this. It was essential to try something, but was it _the_ best thing to do? He looked at Astrid who seemed determined, if she was scared she was hiding it well, and he decided it would be enough to reassure him. He took a deep breath:

"Be careful. We…She must not get too close. Come."

"Maybe we could stay behind, I mean, she won't understand us anyway…"

"Snotlout, we're all going in together, understood?" Astrid growled.

His cousin didn't protest anymore, the teens all went in, walking carefully in the largest tunnel with their dragons. Shrieks from Night Furies were heard and Hiccup's guts contorted as it sounded like Starlight, or maybe it was Summer…Toothless growled at his side.

" _I can hear them. I'll keep an eye on them, but I won't be able to watch the Red Death as well, be careful."_

" _I'll be, don't worry."_

" _Yeah, I already heard that."_

The dragon-child smiled, knowing he had indeed made some bold decisions in the past which had angered Toothless. If the rogue Night Furies were in here too, it would be dangerous and once again Hiccup felt the temptation to leave. Maybe he could turn around and tell his friends to go home…Yet if he wasn't able to do anything, then his new home would be destroyed. A red glow appeared in the tunnel and he felt a cold shiver in spite of the heat. Redder and redder, the tunnel eventually opened on the seemingly endless pit and Hiccup and Toothless stepped forward, Toothless watching out for any sign or Summer or Calla and Hiccup focusing on the smoke in which the Red Death would hide. The others were saying back, looking for any threats and ready to help in case something went wrong.

He shrieked loudly, calling out for her, and waited. At first, nothing answered but sounds from other dragons and the distant hiss of the wind outside. He was about to call again when a dark and gigantic form arose. Hiccup breathed in deeply, he couldn't stay too far but he couldn't get too close either. He saw the giant dragon appearing, this colossal and dark shadow emerging from the glowing pit and he unconsciously gripped the stone walls next to him. The creature had something malevolent in her eyes, it wasn't new, but he couldn't get used to it.

" _You'd rather have a good reason to bother me."_

" _I do…I need to speak to you."_

" _And why would the dragon-child want to speak to me?_ "

She rose slowly by climbing to the stone walls until her head was right before him. Terror invaded him, she had never been so close to him, just one more move and she would devour him…He could hear the others gasp behind him, but he couldn't look at them, he would only keep his eyes on her. Her eyes narrowed, he had to speak, now! He gulped, then breathed in deeply and tried to look confident:

" _You learned that we joined the humans, didn't you?_ "

" _I did, and I see..._ " she turned her eyes toward the back of the tunnel. " _I see that you brought some of those humans._ "

Oh, he didn't like her eyes on them!

" _Yes. They're friends. The humans on our island are ready to give you food, no need to attack anymore._ "

" _Is that so?"_

" _Yes, we told them what you needed, they prefer to give some and stop having their homes burned."_

" _I heard you pretend to fight me, dragon-boy."_

" _Of course not,"_ Hiccup lied _, "I would never be able to do that. I don't want to fight you, I just want the dragons to stop attacking the tribe we live in."_

" _Dragons shouldn't live with humans."_

" _Does that matter? As long as you get your food, why do you care?"_

It was true, she knew it. Did she have to care that the boy and his Night Fury of a brother got besotted with humans? If she had food, it wouldn't matter, and if they could make things simpler for the dragons to get her meals, all the better!

" _Alright child, I'll tell my dragons to collect the food you'll give them, but no more. However, if you don't give enough, we'll attack again."_

" _Yes, we will give them enough, I promise."_

He felt relieved, she accepted, it could buy them some times. He heard a low but still loud chuckle and tensed even more.

" _I always wondered how you tasted, boy."_

" _We'll get you food, I'm leaving now."_

He stepped back and turned away before running as fast as he could, and another low chuckle was heard. His friends and brother did exactly the same, once they were out, they flew far away from the entrance. It was stupid, if she had allowed them to get out, she wouldn't try to get them now, but they couldn't help it. They landed in one of the few green spots of the island and they all took a moment to evacuate the tension.

"What do we do now? We're going back home?"

"We need to figure out a plan now," Astrid declared, "once we'll be home the adults won't let us go anywhere. Let's figure out a plan while we can move around freely."

"Figuring something out is your specialty," Ruff answered, "and seriously Astrid, how are we gonna do that?"

"It won't be easy to kill her, we could try to take her by surprise but she has a great smell," Hiccup said.

"No wonder, with such a snout, she could just swallow us by the nostrils," Ruff mused.

"We would get out of her noses covered with dragon's mucus," Tuff laughed, "hey, maybe we could just poison her or something?"

"We don't know what would work against her, and I doubt we could gather the quantity needed even if we did. If we want to beat her, we need to know more about her weaknesses and abilities," Fishlegs stated.

"Her abilities and weaknesses? Simple: she can crush us with one paw, and she has no weaknesses!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"You can do that, Fishlegs?" Asked Hiccup. "If you can look at her close?"

"Hum, yeah but how could I…"

"There is a way, we'll approach her close." Hiccup jumped on his feet, "I can show you, she won't see us if we are silent. But we should go alone."

Astrid didn't like that, but she could understand: the less they would be, the less they would risk. Hiccup and Toothless led them toward a tunnel on a lower part of the mountain, the boy explained that it opened on the Red Death's lair but at a lower level and they would therefore be closer.

"But there will be tons of smoke," Astrid objected, "you won't be able to see her!"

"If I can at least have an idea of her size, weight and a broad sight of her frame, it will be better than nothing. We only saw her head until now," Fishlegs explained.

Although she didn't like it, it was still an idea. She shrugged and sat on a rock:

"We will stay here and watch out for any other threats, no dragons will come in this tunnel, I promise."

"So do we," the teens declared in unison.

"I'll tear any threats apart," Snotlout boasted.

"Thanks you," Hiccup murmured.

With all the courage he could muster, Fishlegs followed Hiccup as silently as possible. The tunnel got darker and darker very quickly, the red glow of the lava wasn't to be seen yet and at a point, the two boys could do nothing but creep down and trust their hands to guide them. Fishlegs's breath was shaking uncontrollably, it seemed like this was taking forever and he could hear nothing but the sound of their hands rubbing against the stone and their own breath. Sometimes, he would accidentally grab the wild boy's foot or ankle and it was somehow reassuring. This way, he was sure his friend hadn't melted into the darkness.

The heat was becoming almost suffocating, and for a moment the young Hooligan wondered if they would really be able to do this. Would they melt because of the heat? They would probably die out of suffocation first. He started to whimper, and Hiccup shushed him immediately. Oh, how could he be so stupid?! They couldn't be heard!

The dragon-boy hoped his friend wouldn't do any mistakes, it could cost them their lives if the Red Death sensed them. He held back a cough, he was used to the heat, yet this place was especially hot, smoky and suffocating. Yet they couldn't stop, they couldn't let the smoke overcome them! He was sweating, he hoped she wouldn't catch their scent. Maybe the smoke would actually be good to mask it. When he thought he had been face to face with her…His mother would have had a stroke! And Stoick…Oh Stoick would have hated that. It didn't matter though, they weren't here.

Eventually, the tunnel became redder, a soft and weak glow and if Fishlegs felt relieved at first, he remembered what it meant. Hiccup held back another cough and advanced slowly, his earlier fear becoming vivid in his memory and almost making his determination disappear. Yet he had to overcome that, he had to put an end to her and for that they needed to continue. Both were very aware of the danger: they were close to _her_. A deafening roar was heard and both boys put their hands on theirs ears. Their fear was palpable, yet Hiccup went on and his friend followed even though they were both terrified, sweaty and trembling. Hiccup abruptly stopped and Fishlegs saw why: the tunnel was opening on the pit, and he could see the colossal form of the atrocious monster. He felt the need to cower in the dark. He felt the need to sneeze because of the smoke, and put his hand on his nose.

Hiccup made a sign with his head, and Fishlegs understood what he meant; he narrowed his eyes, though he couldn't see the details of the dragon, he could see enough. The tail first: it was made for crushing, a true weapon with it's mace-like tip, but not so good for flying. It seemed to have wings but Fishlegs had the impression that those were a bit…Flawed. Yet he couldn't see well enough. The wing's joint with the back seemed a bit thin compared to the rest of her anatomy, yet considering the size of beast it was still broad. She had huge paws with huge claws and those made him shudder in fear. Her rib-cage was huge, though considering her muscles and weight, her breathing would probably be still a problem, especially if she used her lungs to fire while she would fly.

A growl was heard, the monster was suddenly getting lower and soon enough she would be at their level. Fishlegs couldn't help but whimper, Hiccup hissed lowly to make him shut up and waved his hand to tell him they should leave. Fishlegs did as such happily, he couldn't bear it any longer. The return seemed as slow as the first travel, both boys couldn't wait to have some fresh air.

At the entrance of the cave, the teens and the dragons were waiting anxiously. What Fishlegs and Hiccup were doing was incredibly dangerous! Even the twins weren't as cheerful as usual and Snotlout would constantly look alternatively at the entrance and their surroundings. Toothless and Astrid were both looking at sky, watching out for any threats. A group of Night Furies passed above them, Toothless sniffed the air and just straightened his ears, looking a bit happy. Astrid deduced those dragons were maybe friends or even family to him and Hiccup. It was maybe for the best, they could need allies. She saw some other dragons, and another Night Fury flew toward the mountain's top. A loud growl was heard and Astrid was startled as she saw Toothless growling threateningly.

The dragons all growled in response, the teens took their weapons once they saw their reactions, but Toothless stopped them from doing anything with just one shriek. She hadn't seen them, maybe Summer wouldn't even know they were here…But Toothless decided otherwise, he needed to have a word with that idiot. He flew up toward her, the others could keep the entrance of the tunnel, Hiccup and Fishlegs would be fine. He rushed to the mountain's top, following her scent, and landed on a rock near her. Summer turned around and roared in surprise and fury. He approached her, his jaws and claws ready to tear her apart if she tried anything. The other dragons around looked at them, the tension between them was too obvious to be ignored.

" _How dare you to come before me?!_ _You killed my brothers!_ " she shrieked.

" _Because you attacked us! We wouldn't have killed them otherwise! My brother was almost killed too!_ "

" _You are with the humans, you chose to be our enemy!_ "

" _We go with who we want. And humans are our source of food for the Red Death, killing them just for revenge is madness."_

" _They kill us for revenge too!"_

" _And they die even more because of that. During our first fight, I heard you plead to your mother not to kill my brother and the girl."_

She remembered that, and she wondered if she had been right or weak to do so. The reminder of the softness she always had for young ones toned down her rage.

" _They are young, I don't want to kill young ones._ "

" _But you kill them when they are grown. They'll all die if your mother continues, you know it. If she hadn't started that fight, your brothers would be alive. It's her fault._ "

" _Humans killed her family! Wouldn't you want to kill each one of them if they killed yours?!_ "

" _No, dragons killed humans. Predators kills preys, and sometimes preys kill predators. We all kill and get killed. It's simple. And think: most of the humans you killed had children, what became of them when their parents died? You didn't kill them with your fangs and claws but with no one to take care of them anymore most of them probably died._ "

With horror, she realized it was true, with no parents to protect them or feed them, young ones were often doomed. Maybe other humans took care of them? But what if none did? What if the adults had too many orphans to take care of and had to let some die? Toothless looked at her, she wasn't that smart but she wasn't as cruel as her mother and maybe there was a chance for her not to end up like Starlight. That was why he had decided to speak with her.

" _Dragons and humans can be friends, I like this island I live on. I'm not letting you or anyone kill the ones I love, humans or dragons!_ "

She looked at him, but was unable to say anything else, she still hated him for killing her brothers but he wasn't completely wrong. Other dragons had heard, there were many around and Toothless was glad of it. The others would understand their reasons when they would kill the Red Death and maybe they would help. Being together would be their assets, maybe Summer would join, though he doubted that and wasn't sure they would need her so much. It was their parents they needed to convince, would Calla and Thunder help them? His mother would probably, but he wasn't sure about their father. He roared at her and turned away from her before flying back to his friends.

At the same time, Hiccup and Fishlegs were coming back, the dragon- boy saw how everybody was tense and he was scared when he saw Toothless was missing.

" _Toothless!"_

"He went to another Night Fury," Astrid said, "I don't know which one it was."

Hiccup prayed it wasn't Starlight, she was too strong for him, he was sure of that and he wouldn't bear to lose his brother. The previous heat made the wind seems like ice, but it wasn't the real reason why he was trembling. Yet soon enough, he saw a black form plunging toward them and he felt immensely relieved as he recognized his brother. He went to him and rubbed his head against his.

" _Are you okay?"_

" _Yes, I saw Summer, I had to speak to her."_

Once Toothless had explained him, Hiccup felt relieved to see his brother was fine, Summer wasn't the worse of the family, yet she was still an enemy. He rubbed himself against his brother once more when he suddenly heard his cousin:

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt, but don't you have some things to tell us?!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, he was annoyed but Snotlout was right.

"She almost saw us, I thought it would be the end for us!" Fishlegs uttered in a quivering voice.

"But we had enough time, I must say I rarely saw her this closely."

Fishlegs told them what he saw, and though the twins had some difficulty to follow, they at least understood that the Red Death had weaknesses.

"She would be an absolute killer on the ground, but her size and weight wouldn't do so well in the air, also her tail is mainly made to crush, not so much for speed like our dragons. A fast dragon with stamina could exhaust her in the end, also her breathing capacities wouldn't be that good on the long run, especially if she breathes fire."

"But did you see her nostrils?"

"Yeah, I did, but she still had a lot of muscles to feed with air. Also, her wings don't seem that good, and the joint between her wings and shoulders might be more fragile than the rest of her body. As for the head, I saw earlier that she has small eyes, very small eyes and a thick armored skull. She would rely mostly on smell and sounds, and it would be useless to go for the head except if you aim for the eyes. Also, even though her breathing could be her weakness, with such a large throat, she would make broad waves of fire."

"Thank you Fishlegs, it will help," Hiccup assured him.

"So, what now?" Asked Snotlout. "What are we gonna do? We confront her right now?"

"No, we need to be prepared, there is a way to kill her, but in the air, not in her lair. We have to get her out of that mountain," Astrid summed up.

"But how can we do that? Even if we exhaust her, she'll still be able to crush or swallow us."

"We could use her strength against her," Hiccup murmured, "not only by exhausting her."

"We should go home for now, no need to stay around any longer," Fishlegs said in a worry-filled voice. "Our parents will punish anyway, and we can't prepare ourselves here."

They all agreed and rode back to Berk. They reached it at night and sneaked back into their houses although they knew they would get punished anyway. Later, when everyone except some guards were asleep, a shadow darker than night approached. She posted herself in the mountains, she wouldn't attack tonight, but she wanted to observe the village, that place she would reduce in ashes soon.

" _If you really suffer that much, maybe you should throw yourself at the Red Death."_

Starlight turned around to see Calla sitting above her on a rock and she growled at her enemy.

" _I'll destroy your family, just like you destroyed my sons."_

" _Your sons died because you started a stupid war against humans."_

" _You know very well why I did that."_

" _I was sad when your siblings died, they were my friends, just like you. But it's still useless, they simply fought and they died, that's all."_

" _No! Had you been my friend, you would have cared!"_

" _It's as such. For a dragon who hates humans so much, you think very much like them. Hiccup's human father hated dragons too because he thought they killed his sons. And had you been my friend, you wouldn't have betrayed me first!"_

" _Betrayed you?"_

" _The day you saw my son, you told me to kill him. We were friends and you wanted my child to die, I don't care that he is human or dragon, from the moment I took him, he was mine!"_

" _Dragons and humans are enemies."_

" _Soon, they won't be anymore. You can't stop it. You still have your daughter, you should stop while she is still alive, otherwise she'll die too."_

Starlight growled at her once more. Calla understood that she would never stop, she didn't have much hope to start with. With no warning, she threw herself down at her enemy, and Starlight didn't have the time to dodge. The two met in a violent blow, claws and teeth drawing out blood through the thick scales. Calla hit her eye violently, making Starlight roar in pain and retaliate with a violent whip of her tail on her opponent's side. They threw at each other once again, bones crushing violently and their forms twisting under the violence of their moves. For a moment, Calla remembered how they used to fight but only for fun when they were still cubs. They would roll themselves in the dirt and lunge at each other but always playfully. Now they both hated each other, both wanting to kill the others and anything that was left of their friendship had died already.

Claws dug on Calla's back while fangs viciously bit one of Starlight's paw. A whip of Calla's tail hit her enemy's head and Starlight lunged at her to push her on the ground. Calla's paws made furious moves to stop the other from pinning her down and she shot fire at her. It landed in Starlight's jaw and Calla pushed her away, but before she could stand, a plasma blast hit her side violently. She growled and got up nonetheless, but as they were about to lunge at each other once more, they heard a loud roar.

Thunder was above them, and he plunged from the sky toward Starlight. The Night Fury dodged and realized she would be outnumbered when he landed next to Calla. She could handle each one of them apart, but not together, so she decided to flee away. She swiftly left the ground but Thunder and Calla were quick to follow her. She would go back to the Red Death, she would eventually convince her, she was sure of it, and the monstrous queen would make them pay!

Calla and Thunder pursued her, swift as lightning, but Starlight wasn't to be underestimated. They were flying above the dark waters, and they soon understood that Starlight was going to Dragon's island. They flew faster and faster, they were about to catch her, Calla almost caught her tail in her jaws, if she could bit a part of it off, Starlight wouldn't be able to fly anymore! Focused on the tail before her, she forced on her wings and tail when suddenly a shriek from Starlight was heard: a shriek of triumph. Thunder roared in alarm, and Calla's eyes widened when she saw why.

In the ocean, a dark form was swimming, making the water around it shook violently. Only the head was out of the waters and it was enough. Calla and Thunder turned back, they had to warn their sons: the Red Death was coming toward them!

 **Don't hesitate to review! I tried to proofread more carefully, tell me about mistakes.**

 **Twilight Sparkle: sorry I wasn't able to update for your birthday, but happy birthday still, even though I'm a little late ^^**


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **Hi everybody! Wow, was this chapter tricky! I enjoyed writing it, but it was nonetheless difficult. Listened to some Adrian von Zegler music and also Brandon and Derek Fetcher, two channels I recommend.**

Fear spread among the dragon riders when they were told that the Red Death was coming. The village was also scared, those who saw her knew what would await them and even the brave Hooligans feared such a dreadful fate. Calla and Thunder flew above the sea once they announced _her_ arrival, and watched out. The Hooligans were already preparing catapults, and the children were put in the safest place they could think of. Yet no one was deluded: this meant absolute destruction if she reached the island. The teens looked at one another, they were persuaded of something: the Red Death had smelled something wrong and it was their fault if she was here. Toothless felt furious: he didn't know what caused her arrival, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he had no intention to let her destroy everything. He looked at his brother:

" _We decided we would fight her, well, it's for now. Come._ "

Hiccup cooed softly in approval, got on his brother's back, and then he saw the teens doing the same with their own dragons.

"Guys, what…"

"If you fight that thing, we're going with you," Snotlout simply declared.

"But…"

"No but, Hiccup, there is no time for that," Astrid reminded him.

"Hiccup!"

They all turned to see Stoick running toward them, he seized Hiccup's arm immediately and looked right into the boy's eyes.

"What's happening?! Why is she here?"

"She maybe have smelled us when we looked at her, or maybe Starlight told her. We're going…"

"What?! You intend to fight this?!"

Hiccup just nodded and winced as his father's grip suddenly tightened.

"You're not going! There is no way…"

"Only we can kill her! Or she kill everyone! Let go!"

"I forbid you!"

"I don't obey your orders."

Toothless went to bite his arm and made Stoick release Hiccup in surprise. He quickly flew away and the others mimicked him. Stoick called his son once more but in vain, soon all he could do was watching him and his dragons getting far away. His son…He was going to lose him again! If only he could fly too! While they were growing distant, he saw something getting closer in the horizon as the sun was rising: a gigantic shadow advancing in the sea. He heard shouts as the others started to see it as well.

"Snotlout! Where is he?"

He couldn't even answer his brother and sister-in-law, nor any other parents when they searched for their children. Meanwhile, the teens were flying toward the Red Death, Hiccup hoped his human father would forgive him. He hated being ordered around, but his concern…It didn't matter now, he had to focus! Calla and Thunder were flying along with them.

"Remember, we must exhaust her," Hiccup yelled, "and attack the base of her wings, the joints aren't that good."

"Also tries to blind her," Fishlegs instructed, "Go for the nostrils, the ears, and even the eyes!"

"Fishlegs and the twins the ears, Snotlout and Astrid the eyes, I will take the nostrils and also keep her away from Berk! Once you're done, attack the joints!"

He didn't give any instructions to his parents, they would know what to do. She was closer, soon enough, they saw the gigantic dragon flying out of the water and they couldn't help but notice she looked even more threatening in the sky. Her colossal form masked the rising sun and for a moment it seemed that darkness befell on them. Berk wasn't so far behind them, if they stayed on the cliffs, the Hooligans would probably see some of the fight…

Hiccup's jaw tightened, he and Toothless flew straight toward her and a plasma blast landed in her snout. She roared in pain and breathed a storm of fire at them, but the swift dragons flew by every sides to avoid the flames. Toothless was flying above and he was about to shoot her snout again when a plasma blast landed on his side. He shrieked in pain and Hiccup yelled, it almost got his leg! They saw Starlight flying toward them, but before she could reach them, another black form attacked her. Calla was fighting her once more.

" _Let your mother take care of her!_ " Thunder yelled before shooting at the Red Death's wing.

They got down and shot her right in the jaw as she was about to go for Thunder. She yelled in pain and flew toward them. Thunder went to shoot her wings meanwhile. Another roar of pain was heard when Fishlegs and the twins started to shot fire in her ears. Hiccup told Toothless to shot in the nostrils. She started to contort again the air, disoriented.

" _I'll devour you all_!" She shrieked

Hiccup saw Astrid and Snotlout trying to shoot fire at her eyes, but she was moving too much. He had to make her focus on something precise.

" _Red Death! It's me, the dragon-boy! I lied to you!_ "

In spite of the fire previously shot in her ears, she heard him and she flew toward the sound.

" _We'll destroy you!_ " Toothless added in a loud growl.

" _I'll burn you, you'll pay for this!_ "

She pursued them, and Hiccup flew up to exhaust her. Now, she wasn't moving her head too much. Hiccup told Toothless to shoot the lower part of her jaw instead of her snout, otherwise they could kill their friends by accident. Astrid and Snotlout jumped on the occasion, Hookfang went as fast as possible and shot fire into her three left eyes. The Red Death roared in fury and snapped her head toward them, hitting Hookfang with her snout. Snotlout yelled as he fell, only to feel the air leaving his lungs abruptly when he landed on the dragon's gigantic head. Astrid and Stormfly went to help Hookfang regain balance, while the boy clutched the enormous scales. Although he was scared, Snotlout took out his hammer and ran to her left eyes to smash those. Though it did hurt her, it wasn't enough to blind her for good.

Astrid looked at this once Hookfang was back on track. Snotlout was aiming for the eyes and it reminded her of what she had done to one of the Night Furies who were trying to attack Berk. But he wouldn't be able to do it with a hammer, nor would she with her axe, this dragon had six eyes and those were enormous and thick! It would take too much time with their weapons. Astrid got suddenly an idea, she went to the right side of her head and yelled:

"Stormfly, spikes!"

She showed her the Red Death's multiple eyes and the Nadder did shot her sharp spikes right in there. An agonizing, terrifying roar was heard as the projectiles were planted into her eyes, transforming them into rivers of blood. Snotlout had to grip her tight not to fall. One of her right eyes had been missed, the spike had landed above it. He jumped with all his courage, gripped the spike and planted it with all his strength into the last eye. Hookfang rushed toward him and caught him in a hurry before a big paw could crush him. She breathed fire furiously again, and they all had to flew apart to avoid it. Toothless shot her jaw, making her snap her head. She breathed fire again, but less than last time, and she was breathing harder. Her left side was still blinded by Hookfang and Snotlout's's earlier treatment and Astrid took that occasion to throw spikes at her again. Only two eyes were taken away, Stormfly would need time to throw more projectiles. Astrid jumped from her dragon's back, axe in hand and planted it in the last eye, under the furious roars of the Red Death.

She violently shook her head and Astrid lost balance. She fell toward the ocean in a scream and the Red Death opened her jaw to gulp the screaming small creature. A plasma blast landed on a fang, spreading pain in her jaw, followed by another. Thunder had joined his son and was attacking her snout and jaw along with them. Stormfly caught Astrid swiftly and hardly had time to dodge the paws which were dangling in the air, trying to smash any of her adversaries. She wasn't like the Night Furies they fought days ago, taking her eyes away wouldn't be enough, she could handle it. Hiccup went as closely as possible to the other teens:

"Stop with the ears, I need her to hear me! Go for the wings!"

They all did as such, and Astrid saw for the first time how old the wings were, the borders were damaged. Stormfly shoot fires at those and Hookfang did the same. The twins took their axes and attacked the joints of her wings with it while their Zippelback was still shooting fire. Astrid imitated them with other joint. The Red Death's jaw suddenly appeared before them, but plasma blasts were once more shot at the base of her fangs. Thunder breathed fire into one of the bleeding, empty sock, making her trash in agony.

"Guys, get away from her, now, I have an idea! Join me after!"

They did as such, their dragons flew away, and they heard Hiccup shrieking at her. Suddenly, Astrid understood what he wanted to do.

They had flown high in the sky and beneath them, Calla and Starlight were still fighting furiously. The later was exhausted, but she wouldn't renounce, she had wounded her enemy's right paw and was now going for her throat. A blast on the top of her head made her shrieks and a storm of claws befell on them as they threw at each other. Starlight tried once more to go for the throat, but Calla swiftly dodged, whipped her with her tails and sent her claws in her snout. Starlight bit her paw before she could reach her, and the two females were almost intertwined like snakes as they bit and clawed at each other.

"Mother!"

Starlight and Calla saw Summer coming toward them, and Starlight felt victorious: with her daughter she would be able to kill Calla. The young female shot a plasma blast to separate them and placed herself between the opponents.

" _Stop that, mother, it's enough!_ "

Starlight couldn't believe it and Calla was stunned as well.

" _You brought the Red Death out! We'll all suffer because of it, it's enough, you must stop._ "

" _They killed your brothers!_ "

" _It won't bring them back. They're dead and we'll die too if that continues_."

" _Then be it!_ "

Summer couldn't believe that: her mother was ready to sacrifice her! Toothless was right, she understood it fully: it was her mother's fault, all of it was her fault. Her brothers…Suddenly, a deafening roar made the three of them look in the same direction. The Red Death was coming down toward the ocean.

Hiccup and Toothless were flying, almost falling, toward the ocean. The Red Death was now blind, she wouldn't even see what was coming toward her! Let's hope it would be worth it…

" _Come on Toothless, we'll have to fly carefully but quickly._

" _Do you really think I need to be told?_ "

They got down until they were close to the sea and reached a rock formation. Toothless went toward it and turned right before they could hit it. The Red Death didn't do the same. Her head crushed against it violently, and although her skull was thick she felt pain. A deafening shriek was heard as the two dodged once again another rock formation against which the Red Death crashed. The gigantic dragon's moves started to be less and less coherent, her head was shaking, and Hiccup could guess that it was working despite her strong skull. This was it: that was how he could use her own strength against her!

She hit another column of rocks and Toothless had to swiftly roll in the air and dodge the rocks which were falling toward the ocean. One passed right beside them, and Hiccup's sleeve was ripped as the rock grazed his arm. The boy yelped as some blood dripped from his arm. Upon seeing what they were doing, Starlight flew toward them and called the colossal dragon:

" _Red Death, the island is this way, follow my voice_!"

The dragon heard this and started to take a turn. Yet she hit another rock and as enormous stones blocks were thrown in the air, Calla brutally pushed Starlight toward one of those. The rock hit the Night Fury hard, Starlight wasn't dead, but she was knocked out. Calla threw herself at her and opened her throat in a swift bit. She let what remained of her fall into the ocean and the blood soon faded in the middle of the water as her body disappeared. Summer shrieked for her mother, but remembered what she had done. This was happening because of her and she had favored revenge over her own children. She hated Calla right now, but she still had to stop the Red Death along with them.

The gigantic dragon was flying in the direction of the call she heard earlier. Hiccup saw his friends coming down along with Thunder and he yelled at them:

"She is going to Berk! Fire her wings and jaws!"

They did as such, attacking not only the joints, but also the membrane of her wings, worsening the already pitiful state of those. Summer did fire along with them, throwing all her rage into this. She waved her gigantic tale at them and almost got the twins. The Zippelback lost balance and they found themselves into the sea, only to emerge and retaliate once more by going at her ear just like Calla was currently doing. Astrid led Stormfly toward the jaw were Hiccup and Toothless were shooting, avoiding the monstrous paws she was throwing to put them down. She and Stormfly would need to be extremely precise.

"Spikes!"

The Nadder sent some toward the inside of the jaw, hoping to get her tongue, but the spikes planted itselves in the scales instead, and the monster probably didn't even feel those. Yet another fire shot from the Nadder got one of her fangs, breaking it as it was already damaged by earlier attacks. The big dragon breathed fire but not as much as earlier and they managed to dodge with more ease. Fishlegs was right, her lungs might be big, but they couldn't hold that long, she was getting weaker! Hiccup and Toothless went back to their attack once again.

The Red Death was livid, she had never felt such a burning rage! Her eyes, they took her eyes! She would kill them all, she would ravage their island, they would all be burned or devoured! That dragon boy too, and that other one he brought! She was slowly regaining her smell and she caught his scent: the dragon- boy! His brother just shot at her jaw, oh they would regret it! Ignoring the pain, she went for the kill, she opened her gigantic jaw and started to gulp air at the full extent of her lungs. She could smell them and their fear, they couldn't fly away, they were getting sucked in slowly, but she wouldn't eat them. Using the air she breathed in, she started to exhale gas, she would burn them all, she would…

A plasma blast was shot into the gas and it was only because she didn't have much of it that she didn't choke on fire. Yet her breath was cut off, Hiccup and Toothless, who were slowly getting taken away by her, could finally get far enough. They saw Thunder who was just before her, it was he who got between her and his sons to shoot at her before she could kill them. The big Night Fury shot once more in her mouth while she was struggling for air.

As they saw the Red Death choke at the fire in her mouth, they both realized at the same time what they had to do. Thunder started to leave when, in a swift move, the Red Death's fangs closed itself around the big Night Fury. They saw with horror their father's body going rigid before going limp and disappearing into the Red Death enormous jaws.

Both brothers roared in pure fury and they heard Calla doing the same, joined then by all the dragons. They fired her wings with even more fury and Stormfly threw spikes at her once more to pierce those. Snotlout and Astrid jumped once more from their dragon's back to plant their axes in the joints of her wings, cutting those like they would have cut the trunk of a tree, except that red was splattering them while doing so. The Red Death roared in agony, she went to crush them with her fangs once more, but two plasma blasts hit her empty sockets once more and the pain was absolutely maddening. Hiccup and Toothless went above her.

" _Come here!_ " Toothless yelled in rage.

They flew up and up while his friends were still attacking her wings? They were really starting to damage those and she contorted herself, throwing her tail, paws and gigantic body at the little bugs. Riders and dragons had to dodged, Snotlout and Hookfang got separated once more. The Monstrous Nightmare had to plunge and grab the boy before he could crash against rocks. Then he saw Barf and Belch getting knocked out and the teens were going down. Astrid also fell from Stormfly's back and landed in the ocean. The shock when she fell against the surface of the icy water hurt her and she felt unable to move. Stormfly went in the water, swimming as fast as possible to get to her little human. The dark water was engulfing them, but the Nadder wouldn't give up. Her tail whipped the water furiously and finally she reached Astrid. Taking it in her jaws carefully, she flew up using her powerful wings against the tormented sea.

Hookfang was holding Snotlout in his paws and the boy managed to grab Ruffnutt by the arm, making the girl yelp in pain. The Monstrous Nightmare got Tuffnutt in his jaws, but their weight was too much. He flew with difficulty toward the beach to put the humans here before going back to search for the Zippelback. Meatlug was going for the two-headed dragon as well she helped Hookfang to get the Zippelback out and left him to carry him while Fishlegs led her toward Stormfly who was already getting out of the water.

Fishlegs immediately grabbed Astrid when they came at their level. He shook her gently and tapped her back. The girl was still breathing, it was at least that. Her eyes fluttered, and she moaned.

"Astrid? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…Yeah, but…"

Suddenly, an enormous amount of fire invaded the sky and sea, and for a slight moment, Astrid wondered if the Ragnarok had come. The people of Berk were all in awe before what they saw and screams through the whole village as something hit the sea and a gigantic wave came toward Berk.

O o O

After the Red Death had taken down the other riders, Hiccup and Toothless had continued to go up, as if they wanted to reach the highest parts of the sky.

" _Come, monster, now it's between you and us_ ," shrieked Toothless.

Another plasma blast landed on the monster. Hiccup leaned to Toothless's ear:

"Keep away from her long enough, until she feels obliged to fire at us. I'll tell you when there is enough gas."

Toothless understood what his brother wanted to do. They would do just like Thunder, but this time it would end her. She tried to suck them in, breathing hard just like earlier. Though they were far enough, an enormous paw suddenly appeared at their side and Toothless had to let himself fall to the side to avoid this. They avoided the paw, but the jaws were now much closer. She breathed in once more and this time they got trapped. Hiccup rose his head to see the monstrous fangs getting closer, almost right above him. Soon, she would be able to…

" _Toothless, hold on_!"

He threw his sword inside of her throat and made her choke a bit. Toothless started to flew away but the Red Death quickly recovered from it. Her jaws closed in a sharp, chilling sound and a pure shriek of agony was heard. Hiccup looked at Toothless, wondering why his brother was suffering and what he saw froze him completely: one of the fangs got Toothless's left side of his tail had been caught. The dragon waved his tail furiously and got free but at a price. He flapped his wings with even more strength, but soon his moves made no sense anymore, he couldn't hold on anymore as his tail wouldn't allow him to fly as he wanted. Hiccup knew they were over, it was…The Red Death was trying to catch them back, but her damaged wings were starting to betray her. Suddenly he saw gas formed in the Red Death's mouth and he knew that it could be the end for the three of them.

" _Toothless, shoot in her mouth!_ "

The Night Fury allowed himself to fell on the side and as the Red Death turned toward him to fire at them, he shot his last plasma blast in the jaw. She had much more gas than earlier. Her throat was soon on fire and her entire started to consume on the inside. All the gas in her took fire. She hits rocks under her and her entire body went away in flames. In the middle of that, Toothless and Hiccup were still falling. Maybe they had a chance, maybe if they could fall far enough…Not being able to control any of his moves, Toothless crashed himself against her body before she fell in the water and Hiccup fell from his back.

" _Hiccup!_ "

He went to his brother, no way he would die! Fire and water were all around them, as ifit was only element.

The fall of her body in the water made gigantic waves and one of them went toward the island and the village. Barf and Belch awoke only to have the time to grab their riders and fly away with them, and the others did the same. They flew up toward the village, only to see the wave approach…The wave did reach the village, but thanks the gods, the cliff had been high enough. The buildings received only the tip of the wave, and except for some stuff carried away, no big damages were inflicted upon them. Astrid, still on Meatlug's back, yelled:

"Hiccup, we have to get him!"

The twins, who were still unconscious, were left on the ground, Snotlout, Astrid and Fishlegs went to search for them, desperate. They saw a wary Calla trying to cling on a rock, but not Hiccup or Toothless.

Above them, Summer was looking at this. It was all over…She did help them to kill the Red Death, but she wouldn't save them. Good for them if they could survive, otherwise. She turned away, swearing she would never return. She would let all of that behind her, in this sea where both her brothers and mother died.

 **Well…It's definitely sad for Thunder. Yet I hope you liked it, I'll try to update soon, as you can guess there aren't many chapters left. Don't hesitate to review!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **Hi everybody! Here is the new chapter, I will update Little Hiccup soon, I neglected that story too much.**

It was raining when Fishlegs woke up. Cold was the first thing he felt, as well as pain in his back. His mother was above him, shaking his shoulder. The evening had fallen, only a feeble candle and his mother's lantern were enlightening the room. He found himself wishing for a blanket or a fireplace, or both.

"Hey, you should go home, he is good hands here."

The boy stirred, he had fallen asleep on a chair, no wonder he had back pain. At first, he wondered where he was, then he remembered he was in Astrid's house. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at Hiccup. Laying in a bed with a big fur over him, the dragon-boy just remained like that and wouldn't wake up. It had been some days already, and everyone was worried. Astrid would spend a lot of time near him, but it was easy for her since they were still sharing the same room.

She had left to take care of Stormfly and help her mother with some chores, but before that she had asked him to spend some time with Hiccup. As he was thinking about her, the girl came back. Fishlegs smiled to her.

"I'll stay with him," she said gently.

"Okay, I'll go home, Meatlug will probably want to fly with me once the rain had stopped."

"Don't fly with her for long, it's late," his mother demanded while they were leaving.

Once they were out, she changed her clothes, those were wet because of the rain, and she would be better in a warm night shirt. She did that quickly, then sat beside the bed, and rubbed Hiccup's forehead. Although she would sometimes go out to help her parents or take care of Stormfly or help her friends with some tasks, she would try to be in there as most as possible. She wanted to be there when he would wake up, she was sure he would survive, there was no way the gods would make him die after surviving such a fight! She had to be there, because when he would wake up, he would see _it_. She and her friends had spent the last day resting, taking care of their dragons, watching over Hiccup, and helping villagers with dragons. Some had started to take some dragons home, Gothi had a couple of Terrible Terrors and Svala the Baker had a Zippelback. Hiccup would be happy to hear that, or at least she hoped so. How would he feel once he would wake up?

Watching over him had made her pass a lot of time in company of Stoick, who was also here as much as he could. Of course, he wanted to be here for his son, even though his duty as a chief were often calling him outside. Though the high cliffs had spared the village from the gigantic wave and the fall of the Red death, the harbor and the ships hadn't been so lucky. A lot of reconstruction had to be done and the chief needed to be around. When they had been together, Astrid had told him a bit about their adventures in the wild, while she was away, she had explained him also in details how they had met and what led to their friendship. He had explained her what Hiccup would have to learn and do in the future if he wanted to become the next chief. She promised herself she would be there to help him.

A low and faint grunt almost made her jump in surprise, taking her out of her thoughts all of sudden. She took his hand, and pressed it.

"Hiccup, wake up, please. I know it's not easy, but we're all worried for you…"

She was startled once more when she heard a loud bang against the front door. She heard her father swear and yell as something obviously big entered the house. Astrid stood up and suddenly found herself face to face with Toothless. The black dragon was agitated, shaking his entire body, and his tail more especially. He went to Hiccup and sniffed him. Astrid put a hand on the Night Fury's head.

"Shh…Calm down, he is alright."

She didn't know why he was acting like this, Toothless had been already allowed to enter in order to see his brother, but she had never seen him in such a state. Hiccup grunted again, and hope rose in her chest. Maybe the dragon was in a hurry because his instinct had told him that Hiccup would wake up! The boy started to stir, and she passed a hand through his hair, not even thinking about her gestures. Toothless licked the boy's face with angst.

"Hiccup…"

His eyes fluttered and Astrid smiled while Toothless's body shook once more. He looked completely lost at first, but both Astrid and Toothless called his name, in their own languages and he remembered the fight. He smiled weakly to them, he was feeling numb, but he was alive, and _they_ were alive.

"Hey…"

" _You made us wait for so long!_ "

He petted his brother's snout while the dragon started to lick his face. Astrid restrained him gently.

"Calm down, you'll smother him."

The beast just paced through the room, and Astrid feared a bit for her stuff. Hiccup growled and cooed something, and his brother calmed down. The girl turned to him and the smile on Hiccup's lips fainted as he was looking at the dragon.

"What's wrong with his tail?"

She bit her lips.

"During the battle, you…You were both wounded."

Hiccup remembered now, one of her fangs had torn his fin…Now his brother had only one tail fin, he would never be able to fly again.

"Hiccup, there is something else. You were wounded too."

He looked at her questioningly and took off the cover. His eyes widened as he saw and at first he had an instant of panic. One foot was missing…He wouldn't be able to walk anymore! This was the end of him, no animal could survive with one paw! Atsrid put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down:

"Gobber and Fishlegs made you this so you can walk again."

She then showed him a strange metallic object and started to put it on his stump. Hiccup looked at her with despair and confusion as she tied it.

"…How?"

"We don't really know how you lost it. It will be painful, but you should be able to walk. Gobber can teach you, he has a wooden leg after all."

That was true, he remembered indeed that the man had one foot missing, and yet he could walk and fight. His brother went at his side and Hiccup couldn't help but notice that it was his left tail fin which was missing, just like he lost his left foot. He had to be brave, if men like Gobber would walk with that kind of objects on their legs, he could do it too. And Toothless would need him…Then, he remembered something else:

"My father…"

"Stoick is fine, don't worry."

"No, I mean…Thunder."

She lowered her eyes and Toothless put his head on his laps.

" _Dad died…_ "

" _He did, Hiccup, but at least mother is alright. I feared I would lose you as well,_ " he cooed gently.

" _How did we survive?_ "

" _I rolled you in my wings to protect you from the fire, and your friends and mother helped me to get out of the water. No one but father died…It's incredible, he was the strongest._ "

Hiccup rubbed his head against his, he knew his brother was sad, even though he couldn't cry. He breathed in deeply. He wanted to see his mother, even though Toothless told him she was fine, he needed to see her by himself, and the others too. He wanted to be sure that his friends and his human father were doing alright. He turned to Astrid.

"Where are the others?"

"At their homes. It will be night soon and it's raining. Maybe your father will come, he has spent a lot of time here."

"He was worried."

"Yes, like each one of us. Fishlegs was here earlier."

Hiccup didn't say anything. He moved his leg and felt the unnatural metallic thing instead of his foot. He would have to be brave, for Toothless and for Thunder. He rose and tried to stand up. He was still feeling a little numb, Astrid warned him it was maybe not a good idea. Yet Hiccup wanted to do it. Taking a deep breath, he started stand and felt pain in his left leg immediately. He winced and tried to take step, only to stumble on Toothless.

"Hiccup, don't push it. There is nowhere you can go at that time and by such a weather, anyway."

"I know but…"

Holding Toothless for balance, he took a first few steps through the room and started to feel a little more at ease. It would definitely hurt, it wouldn't be easy, but it gave him some hope: at least he had a chance, he wasn't condemned. He couldn't help but think that in the wild, such a wound would have been fatal. Astrid smiled to him.

"You're the Viking! But you still need some rest."

He couldn't help but smile, and allowed her to lead him back to bed. A big noise at Astrid's window surprised them and she opened it only to see Calla flying in the air, watching them. The rain didn't seem to bother her, all she wanted was to see her son. Hiccup got up once more, almost stumbled, but got to the window.

" _Mom…_ "

" _You're awake…I feared you would stay asleep and die. You can walk? I thought you had lost a paw?_ "

" _The humans gave me a fake one. I'll be able to walk_."

She was happy about that, at first, when she realized his foot was missing, she had envisaged to end his days, because with a lost paw, her son wouldn't survive and would die slowly. But Toothless told her that maybe humans would be able to do something and even though she doubted it, she had let him live. She wanted to believe that he would be able to survive. He was right, obviously and she was happier than possible. She had lost Thunder, she couldn't lose her son as well, especially now. She put her front paws on the window to hold on and nudged his face.

" _Rest my son, I'll speak to you when you'll feel better. I'll stay here, if anything happens, I'll come._ "

He smiled and petted her head before backing away. Astrid closed the window while Calla got down. The boy went back to bed with more ease than earlier. Toothless was proud of his brother, he would overcome this. When he had seen that a part of his tail was missing, he had wondered how long he would stay alive. A dragon who wouldn't fly was dead. But the humans and the other dragons had helped him to get food, so he had decided he would stay alive to protect his brother. Now, the boy was awake, and he could walk again. He would hold on too, if Hiccup could hold on, he would too, even if he couldn't fly anymore. He would stay here with the humans and he would keep protecting this village as well as possible along with his brother.

Hiccup laid on the bed and Toothless put his head on his laps once more. Astrid left to get some food, and the boy realized how hungry he was.

After Hiccup woke up, Astrid's father went to tell Stoick about it, and the man went to the Hofferson House. He had a hard time not to give him bone-crushing hug. Instead he put a hand on his face in a comforting way. Astrid left the room, even Toothless did, leaving them some space.

"I was so worried about you! You don't even imagine!"

"How long I slept?"

"You slept for five days. At least it gave Gobber the time to make you a new foot. I'm sure you'll be able to walk with it."

"I can, I did it."

Stoick smiled and murmured:

"I'm proud of you, for saving the island, and for the battle. But I must say that I was so scared for you, I wish it will never happen again."

"But if there is another…"

"I know…I know that you'll grew up, you're going to be a man in some years, and you'll lead your own battles…Teenagers goes to quests and risk their lives too. But I thought I lost you all those years, so please, in the future, try not to scare your father too much."

Hiccup nodded and lowered his head. At the word 'father', the thought of Thunder had hit him once more; he felt that it was his fault, that if he hadn't tried all those things…

"Hiccup?"

"I…I'll try to be…Careful?"

"Thanks."

He passed his hand on his head again and saw his sad eyes. Without hesitating, he gently passed his arms around his son and pulled him against his chest. The boy's eyes widened at this, but didn't move an inch. Stoick felt a knot in his throat and his eyes wettened. It was the first time since he was hugging his son since he had been taken away. He didn't want to hold him tight but it was hard not to, all he wanted was to keep him there and make sure nothing would happen to him again. He had feared for him so much during this battle. Now, he was there, he finally had his son in his arms.

Hiccup didn't know what to do, a part of him was still scared and now that thunder was dead it was worse. But it also felt good to be in Stoick's arms. The man who should have raised him…His human father released him:

"I'm still very proud of you though. That thing was gigantic, we found the body, we took some of its meat, skin and bone for the village. We couldn't get everything, but the few we got…"

"I want to eat some."

It was only legit. She had eaten his father, so he would eat her flesh as well. Thunder hadn't been much with them, in fact he hadn't known him very much, so the pain wasn't as hard as it would have been for Calla or his siblings. Yet it didn't mean he felt nothing for him. Stoick seemed to understand and he told him he would bring some of it as soon as possible. He and his dad continued to speak, Stoick told him that some Vikings were befriending dragons and though Hiccup was happy, there was still some emptiness in him. The chief eventually left, and Toothless entered.

" _It's our fault, isn't it? If father is dead._ "

" _No, father wouldn't have helped us if he hadn't considered this as his battle too. He would let us handle our fights, we could never force him to be involved if he didn't want to be, and we didn't even ask for his help. It's Starlight's fault, she is the one who involved the Red Death into this._ "

It made sense, but Hiccup couldn't help but feel guilty. Yet it was true that Thunder had always done what he wanted, and his children's action wouldn't have been obliged him to do anything.

" _I'm sad too, Hiccup, but it's not our faults. Thunder died while fighting, like many dragons and he fought the deadliest creature ever_."

" _I want to eat some of her meat._ "

" _I already did. She tasted good, like victory_ ," he growled with satisfaction.

Hiccup petted him once more, his animalistic side wanted to taste that flesh too, to feel the satisfaction of devouring the enemy. He dreamt of it during the night, that he was devouring the corpse of the Red Death, with his friends who all had dragon scales and fangs and claws. The next morning, he was visited by his friends and he went out with them. The rain had stopped, and the fresh blue sky was adorned with big white clouds. Hiccup immediately wanted to fly with Toothless, but they were both cruelly reminded that the dragon couldn't fly anymore.

Many villagers came to see how Hiccup was doing, Gobber among them, and Hicup almost felt smothered. From afar, he saw his uncle, Spitelout, who didn't look that happy to see him alive and well. Calla eventually came to disperse them all, and she had no difficulty to do that. She told her sons to come with her, before leading them outside of the village. Hiccup left his friends and though he had to grab Toothless at times to walk properly, he was doing pretty fine. They joined their mother who was sitting under a tree and she gave both of them a nudge.

" _I will have to leave for the island of Night Furies._ "

" _You'll take it as your own?_ "

Now that their father was dead, Calla was certainly one of the strongest Night Furies around.

" _I will, and I'll lay my eggs here._ "

The two brothers were surprised at this, their mother was pregnant?!

" _Before your father died, he gave me new cubs. I'll lay my eggs soon, and I'll join your sister for that. We'll take care of our cubs and protect the island together while you protect this one._ "

Hiccup felt suddenly scared. It was stupid, he wasn't a cub anymore and he had lived without his mother for months. But it was different, now he had a fake foot, Toothless couldn't fly anymore and they had lost their father. Yes, Thunder hadn't been around a lot, but still! Calla probably felt it, and she rubbed herself against him.

" _You can manage it, and you have a father now. That human loves you, even if you're scared to become a human, you have to accept this part of you. I taught you to be a dragon, let that man and that girl teach you to be a human._ "

Hiccup nodded, and Toothless also nudged his mother.

" _You can't fly anymore, but you can still fight. You'll find a way, I know it. As long as the two of you stay together, you'll be able to survive, I know it. You're alive, Starlight and the Red Death are dead, so hold on._ "

They cuddled with her for a short time, knowing that she was right indeed. Maybe she would come back to see them, but they would have to manage without her. They were grown up, and they had a village and friends to help them.

" _Hiccup, you can fly, you know. You can get on Stormfly's back, or another dragon._ "

" _I don't want that…_ "

He looked at the village, at the sea and at the sky. This was their new home…He would live here and they would be unable to fly away. He wished to kill the Red death again, but there was no point. He felt his brother nudging him.

" _I'll learn to live on the ground. Dragons aren't supposed to, but maybe I'll be able to do it. She is right, you know, we can stay here and live here, and you still have one father_."

He knew that. He would never forget Thunder, though. He petted his brother, seeing him unable to fly was still piercing his heart.

He felt pain in his leg and looked down at the metallic thing. What a weird device…All of sudden, he started to run toward the village. He stumbled and fall, but got up as quickly as possible. His brother followed him, wondering what was wrong with him. He found Fishlegs who was still with the other teens. They all wondered what was wrong when they saw him out of breath, struggling to run. Before any of them could say something, the boy grabbed Fishlegs and uttered:

"You're the one who made this?"

"Hum…I helped Gobber."

"Can you do the same with Toothless? A fake fin?"

"A fake fin? I don't know…We can try something."

"We have to. If he can't fly, I won't either, and we can't live without flying."

He couldn't resurrect his dragon-father, but maybe he could help his brother to fly again. Astrid put his hand on his shoulder.

"Breath. There is something we wanted to show you."

Wondering what it could be, he followed them and they showed him something which made him smile. Some dragons were in the village, except they weren't attacking, but instead they were befriending humans. Yet Hiccup noticed a lot of them were being clumsy and didn't really know how to handle the situation. He remembered the idea of teaching Hooligans about dragons, he would have to do that…In spite of the sadness, a new energy rose in him, he had much to do and he _wanted_ to do it all.

 **This chapter is a bit shorter, I know, but there will another one coming, the last one. I planned a sequel, I still need to think over it though and it won't be as long. Don't hesitate to review!**


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **Hi! The last chapter is up! It's definitely shorter than the others, but you will still learn a lot in it.**

 **Enjoy!**

For days, Fishlegs and Hiccup spent a lot of time in the forge, trying to create the new tail fin. Each time they had something, Hiccup would try it with Toothless. Several times they noticed flaws and had to retry. Gobber would help, and Astrid too, bringing ideas and suggestions or helping the brothers when they would try to fly together. The dragon-boy was still feeling sad for Thunder, but he handled it. Maybe it was because they had never been very close, and because he was still like a dragon, and dragons didn't see death and life in the same way. What mattered the most now was to allow Toothless to fly again. One day, the two brothers went to the cliffs.

" _This time, it will work._ "

" _There is only one way to find out_."

Mounted on the dragon's back, the boy put his metallic leg in the pedal. The dragon threw himself in the air and Hiccup moved his foot. He knew how dragons would fly, and the more they were trying to do this as one, the more he felt it. The wind was blowing strongly, it felt vivifying and he couldn't help but think of that time with Astrid when they had run together one morning in the wild…He focused again, Toothless was flapping his wing, he started to take a turn and Hiccup moved the pedal, it was still hard at times, but Hiccup was starting to see when his brother would make a move. After all, he had ridden all his life on his brother's back, all his experience was making it easier and natural. They flew up and Hiccup held on tight in order not to fall, still activating the fake tail whenever it was needed.

Toothless took an abrupt turn, and this time, hiccup hadn't see it coming. The boy's heart almost broke his ribcage, and Toothless shrieked as he was losing balance. They were getting down toward the sea. Hiccup moved his foot, allowing Toothless to stabilize himself.

" _Focus, Hiccup!_ "

" _Sorry!_ "

They flew down and passed right above the water before getting up again. They continued like that, taking turns, and getting more and more at ease. Toothless was happier than ever. When Hiccup had told him about a new fin, he had a hard time believing it, yet it was true. The few days he had passed on the ground had been horrible, not being able to be in the air, his natural territory, had been a torture. He had felt weak and diminished. Now, it felt like he had his strength back again, and strangely, flying with the help of his brother didn't bother him. On contrary, it felt even stronger, as if nothing could ever stop them.

" _She made us stronger! She tried to kill us but she made us stronger!_ " Toothless roared in victory.

Hiccup giggled out of joy and they roared once more in the sky, for the simple pleasure of screaming their victory.

They spent hours in the sky and they were eventually joined by the other teens. Stormfly and Toothless raced several times, at a point, Hiccup couldn't help but want to jump on Stormfly's back and hug Astrid.

"When I'll run well again, we'll race!"

"Challenge accepted," Astrid declared.

They only got on the ground in the late afternoon, Hiccup's face was glowing with happiness. He was surprised when the girl took his hand.

"Follow me, alone."

She led him through the woods, and soon they came at the familiar place.

"That's where we met. I mean, when I came to you," he murmured.

"Yes. That's where my owl lives. Look, here he is."

They saw the bird netting its feathers, not bothered by them in the slightest.

"It's a little thanks to him that I met you. I didn't visit much lately."

She took his hand again and he felt suddenly something weird starting to build inside of him.

"I know you've lost your father, and I know we wanted to wait…But I really thought you were dead after the fight, and even when you came back, I feared you wouldn't wake up. Next time, maybe one of us won't make it, and I realize it now."

She breathed in deeply.

"I was scared…I forbid you to repeat that to anyone, got it? I was scared after what happened with those men. But I'm feeling better now. I'm ready and I don't want to lose time anymore."

He smiled to her and squeezed her hand a little. Having lived with animals, he knew how nature worked, but humans had strange ways, and that was why he had been lost with Astrid. The young boy had seen some humans put their lips together when they were in love, and Astrid had explained him that once, when they were in the wild. Now he wanted to do that. Her eyes were shinning slightly. She approached him, and he leaned toward her. The sensation when they kissed was almost overwhelming, it seemed like time had stopped and nothing could be sweeter. They slowly embraced each other, and their bodies started to shake slightly. The vertigo as they lost each other in this was wonderful, their feelings had remained under, hidden because of everything they went through and now those were bursting out. When they broke the kiss, Hiccup had the sensation he had never done anything _that_ human before. As for Astrid, it felt like her first flight. They kissed again and again, until the dark got thicker.

They held hands toward the way back to the village, Toothless joined them and entered with them in the Great Hall. It was only when Astrid's father looked at them with a frown that she let go of Hiccup and went to him. His friends were on him soon enough, teased him and asked questions until she came back.

"Quit it guys! Hiccup…My parents says you can't stay home anymore."

"Why? They hate me now?"

"Not at all, they are fine with us being a couple. But they say it wouldn't be proper for us to sleep in the same room anymore."

"Uh?"

"I'll explain you later. But it's not against you, don't worry."

"Maybe you can come leave with me or Snotlout, or the twins?" Fishlegs suggested.

"I don't think my dad will approve…I would like it, and my mom would be okay with that, but my dad…"

"Don't worry, Snotlout, I think I know already where I want to go."

The dinner was served and they all ate together. As soon as it was over, Hiccup went to Stoick, the chief was talking to some of the villagers about the harvest and the boy waited until he was finished. His father eventually noticed him, the dragon-boy approached and looked straight at him:

"Dad, can I stay home with you?"

Stoick gaped at this, he seemed absolutely stunned at those words, but joy appeared right after. Not caring in the slightest about the people around, he took Hiccup in his arms and this time the boy returned the embrace with more ease. His father…For the first time maybe, this wasn't only a fact, he felt something stronger toward him. When he released his son, Stoick's eyes were shinning, and he seemed like he couldn't find his words:

"I…Well…I'll have to arrange the house. You'll need your room, after all!"

Hiccup couldn't help but smile happily. He still hadn't forgotten Thunder, he would always remember the dragon, but he wished to know his real father, before it was too late. It was time to let the human in him grow to form only one being with the dragon.

 **O o O**

"Are you sure this isn't all a strange story?" Asked one. "If you try to sell us lies, you'll pay with your life, I guarantee it."

"Shut up, just listen to what he says." Said the second.

"I was on Berk, I saw the corpse myself, that dragon was gigantic, the biggest one we ever saw." assured the frightened merchant. "And I saw the boy, he is indeed a mix of a dragon and a human. He can make them obey, he has already started to teach Berk how to ride them. And his friends too, they were the first ones to ride on dragons. There is that young girl, she had ran away with him to see the secrets of dragons, she had lived in the wild with him and they had nicknamed her the Dragon Princess."

Only a few candles were enlightening the room, and the people's faces looked even more threatening right now. The merchant had been proposed some gold to tell them the story of the dragon-child and he saw no objection about it. It could happen sometimes that people would give him some coins to hear his travelling stories and fresh news, and the story of Stoick's son was something. In fact, the chief had told him some of it, to be sure that people would hear the truth, and not fake rumors. The other tribes would eventually learn about Hiccup and the dragons anyway, so he'd rather make sure that the truth was more largely spread than lies.

So, with the approval of Berk's chief, the merchant had told the story to many people, and it had always grabbed a lot of attention. But now, he realized that those people didn't simply want a story or news. The fact they had brought him in a small private room to hear him and had guards posted at the entrance had alarmed him, yet he hadn't dared to refuse. He went on, he was pretty sure they wouldn't let him leave like that. He explained how the other teens had joined them, how they vanquished Night Furies together, introduced dragons to the village, showed the Red Death to the people, and finally killed it.

"Now more and more people are riding dragons. But those teens have a special status, some call them 'The Dragon Children'."

"If they are really doing that, they could be a serious threat," said the first one.

"Or a big asset. Is everybody happy with that?"

"Hum…A lot of people are, but not all of them. I heard that the boy was to inherit the tribe and some are against it, his uncle especially," explained the merchant.

"Why?"

"Well, before the boy reappeared, Stoick's nephew was supposed to be the Heir. It's now the case anymore and Stoick's brother is feeling cheated."

"And the nephew?"

"Oh, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. In fact he and his cousin seems to get along very well. There was also an annoying old man who would often say that this would lead to Berk's downfall."

"Hum…We should reward you, now. How about a nice cell to spend the night?"

"What?!" The man froze on place. "But, you said…"

"I lied. Take him away."

The man was carried away, begging and yelling, but it was useless. The first one turned to the second and asked:

"Should we make a trip to Berk?"

"We will, very interesting prizes are awaiting for us."

 **If you want to know who were talking in the last scene, I guess you'll have to read the sequel. It will be called 'The Dragon Children', I don't know when I will post it, I started writing, but the first chapter isn't done yet. It shouldn't take very long though. Don't hesitate to review for the last time on this story, I want to really thank all those who posted comments, I didn't think that fic would have a lot of readers, I'm glad that I was wrong! Thank you all, and I hope you'll read and enjoy the sequel. Bye!**


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